Lightspeed Fury Odyssey
by lauraac2110
Summary: Sometimes, there are fates worse than death. For Casey Rhodes, life under the command of Captain Mitchell is one of them. This is the Odyssey of how he escaped from the Venjix invasion with the help of the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and of the aftermath.
1. Prologue: Fates Worse Than Death

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Power Rangers, unfortunately, Disney and Saban have that honour._

_**Note: The Lightspeed Fury Odyssey is purely additional content for my Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart novel. It doesn't stand alone, unfortunately, so if you haven't read my main novel, you won't have a clue about what is happening in this novel at all! **_

_This Odyssey mainly deals with Casey of the Jungle Fury Rangers and the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers from the day of the Venjix invasion onwards to present events in my novel._

_Lauraac2110_

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Prologue: Fates Worse Than Death

by Lauraac2110

_Death. Until that fateful day two years ago, I believed that there could be no fates which were worse than it._

_When the Venjix invasion started that day two years ago, I lost everything and everyone I've ever cared about. I lost Theo, Lily, Dominic and RJ. My friends and allies. However, if it hadn't been for the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers that day, I would have also lost so much more. I would've lost my life as well._

_Although I should be grateful, I'm often quite bitter about the fact that they saved me from dying upon the beach. For the past few years, I've been an empty shadow of what I once was without my old friends there beside me. Don't get me wrong, I've got all my new friends here within the Aquabase at my side but it hasn't been the same as having my old ones around._

_I miss Lily's infectious smile, Theo's laugh, Dominic's stubbornness and even RJ's wisdom. However, I know that I'm extremely unlikely to ever see them again and, whenever I think about them, I'm often left in a sorrowful mood._

_When I'm in these sorrowful moods, the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers try to bring me out of them. Carter and Ryan try to distract me, Dana and Kelsey try to console me and Joel and Chad try to get me to open up about myself. I've become an extremely secretive person since that day two years ago because I don't want them to find out what the "odd pair of sunglasses", as Angela Rawlings termed my Solar Morpher, actually are._

_If any of them did, Captain Mitchell would find out within minutes and I would be in a lot of trouble. We've never gotten on since I was first brought here and, to be honest, he makes my life an utter misery at times._

_He's also the one person who is responsible for teaching me that there are fates out there which are worse than death. _

_Life in the Aquabase under his command for two years has certainly been one of them at times. _


	2. Memories of The Tiger: Claws of Death

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Memories Of The Tiger: Claws of Death

by Lauraac2110

_**Ocean Bluff, Pai Zhua Academy, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning **_

"_Ok, that concludes our lesson today, Cubs," Casey declared as he bowed respectfully to them. They bowed back and then left. Jarrod and Camille were the only Cubs who hadn't been present during this lesson as they had gone to a nearby town for a well earned date at Casey's insistence._

_Casey took a look around the familiar Pai Zhua Academy and sighed. For Casey, it was just another average day but what he didn't realise was that things would soon change forever._

_**Ocean Bluff, just outside the Jungle Karma Pizza Parlour, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning, some time later**_

_Casey struggled to stay on his feet because of the power of the earthquake. He clung onto the side of the building for dear life as he waited until the shaking decreased slightly. Something about the earthquake didn't seem quite right to him so, as soon as the shaking lessened, he rushed into the restaurant and upstairs into the loft._

_RJ, Theo and Lily were already there. On the TV, the earthquake was featured in a Breaking News report._

"_We interrupt this program to alert you to Breaking News. An earthquake measuring at around 6.1 on the Richter scale has struck Ocean Bluff. Reports are coming in that many of the buildings in the city have collapsed but, fortunately, we're getting confirmations that those buildings which have collapsed were empty at the time of the earthquake. At the mall, many of the shops have caught fire and the place is being evacuated as we speak. In... Wait, we've got further reports that metallic monsters have shown up around the city. We take you live to Rebecca, our roving reporter, for the latest," The Newsreader was saying as Casey entered._

"_I don't know if you can hear me, Ross, but we're in the centre of town where the metallic monsters showed up as soon as the earthquake began. They've so far been firing at anything that moves so we're sensibly keeping our distance from them..." Rebecca was saying just as the TV signal cut out._

_Everyone looked to RJ with grim expressions on their face. _

"_It's time, isn't it?" Casey asked._

_RJ nodded. "Wait here."_

_RJ then proceeded up to his safe where, from within a wooden box, he retrieved his Wolf Morpher and their Solar Morphers. He then handed them out._

"_Our priority is to get rid of those metallic monsters as quickly as possible. There are going to be many people who need help because of this earthquake and those metallic monsters are only going to get in the way of helping them," RJ said. Casey nodded in agreement._

"_Ready?" Casey asked as he flicked open his glasses and put them on. Theo and Lily did the same as RJ activated his morpher. Everyone nodded._

"_Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" Casey called. Everyone else followed his lead as they went through the stances until, finally, they morphed._

_Remembering Flit, RJ's little fly friend who had been turned back into a human again, RJ went downstairs to ask him something. However, he had already fled with the customers. RJ sighed grimly as everybody else came downstairs after him._

"_Everyone's already gone. I was going to ask Flit to watch the monitors but we won't need them, I'm sure," he said as he turned to them. "We had better go get rid of those metallic monsters."_

_With one last look behind him as they left, RJ and the other Jungle Fury Rangers left the Jungle Karma Pizza Parlour and headed off into the city to fight the Grinders._

_**Ocean Bluff, in the centre of town, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning**_

"_Wow, there's so many of them!" Lily exclaimed as they arrived in the centre of town. "I don't know if we can fight that many of them."_

"_We've got to," Casey replied. "Split up and take out as many of these metallic monsters as you can!"_

_They split up. Each of them confronted a group of the metallic monsters and each of them destroyed the entire group that they had went after. However, as soon as they destroyed one group, each of them were soon confronted by two more groups of the metallic monsters and were overwhelmed._

_The blows that sent them all into the nearest wall were rather powerful and caused each of them to power down. _

"_Get up, we've got to fight them!" Casey exclaimed._

"_No, there's just too many of them for us, Casey. We've got to get out of here, quickly!" RJ replied._

_Theo and Lily were silent for a moment before they reluctantly agreed with RJ as the metallic monsters closed in._

"_RJ's right, Casey. We've got no choice but to flee," Theo finally said._

"_There's just too many of them," Lily added._

"_All right. How are we going to get of here, though?" Casey asked._

_RJ smiled. "Leave it me."_

_Very calmly, RJ quickly went through all of the stances of the Wolf as he called, "Call to the spirit within, unleash the Wolf!"_

_Seconds later, the Wolf Spirit leapt out from between his hands and created a hole in the ranks of the metallic monsters. Then, the Jungle Fury Rangers didn't waste any time as they fled from Ocean Bluff and the metallic monsters._

_**Ocean Bluff, Pai Zhua Academy, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning**_

"_We'll be safe here, for a while," RJ said calmly as he took a deep breath._

"_No, you will never be safe here," Master Mao said as he appeared to them. "You must leave Ocean Bluff as soon as possible."_

"_Master Mao, we can't!" Lily exclaimed. "What about all the people? Our friends?"_

"_They are doomed already. Do not condemn yourselves to their fate as well," Mao replied. "Those metallic monsters are known as Grinders and they're currently terrorising every city in the world right now. Their master is an AI computer program called Venjix which is trying to enslave humanity and, if you don't get out of here, you will be next."_

"_But..." Theo began. "My twin brother, Luen..."_

"_It is too late for them but it isn't too late for you," Mao replied sadly. "You must flee to a city called Corinth, which is many miles down the coast from here, where you will be safe. You must go now."_

_Casey grimaced before he nodded. "It'll be the hardest thing we've ever done, Master, but we'll do it."_

_Master Mao nodded. "Good. Now, go forth from here and do not come back. Get to Corinth where it will be safe for you."_

_The other Jungle Fury Rangers left but Mao called out to RJ._

"_Wait, RJ," Master Mao commanded. RJ turned to him. Then, Mao said something quietly to him in a voice that only RJ would be able to hear. _

_RJ turned instantly pale in reply. "What do you mean? Mao?" he instantly demanded. _

_Mao, however, vanished instantly as the other Jungle Fury Rangers turned to RJ._

"_RJ? What did he say?" Casey asked._

"_It was nothing," he lied. "Come on, we haven't got a lot of time left. We've got to get out of here."_

_With that, the Jungle Fury Rangers left Pai Zhua Academy behind them as they fled from the Venjix invasion._

_**Ocean Bluff, at the edge of town, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning, minutes later**_

"_There, it's perfect!" Theo said as he pointed to an abandoned car at the edge of town. The keys were still in the ignition and it was big enough for them all to fit into it. The only problem for RJ and Casey, though, was that it was pink._

"_We can't take that. It's pink!" RJ exclaimed. _

"_Have you got any better ideas?" Lily replied. RJ fell silent and gave in as he knew that they didn't have time to argue over their getaway car. All that really mattered was that they got out of town before the Grinders stopped them._

"_Hurry, the Grinders are coming!" Casey exclaimed as he pointed to the patrol of Grinders who were rapidly approaching them. They didn't waste time in getting into the car after that so Casey just managed to start the engine and drive off before the Grinders started firing upon them. _

_As they drove away from Ocean Bluff, all of them looked back to see what destruction the Grinders had caused to Ocean Bluff. It was only at that moment that they realised the extent of the devastation. In the few short minutes that they had been at the Pai Zhua Academy, most of the recognisable landmarks of Ocean Bluff had been destroyed. _

_On all of their minds were Dominic and their teachers; Masters Fin, Swoop and Phant. They were all wondering where they were at this moment in time and whether they would ever see them again or not but all of them knew that it was too late to do anything to help them. Like everyone else they knew or loved, they were all doomed to an inescapable harsh fate and there was nothing that the Jungle Fury Rangers could do for them._

_They had to focus on getting to Corinth City. Perhaps one day, when the war was over, they would go in search of those they had lost but, until then, they had to stay alive first._

_**Somewhere On The Road To Corinth, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early afternoon, some time later**_

_As they continued to follow the road, the land bore more and more signs of the Venjix invasion. There were burnt out cars at the sides of the road, patches of burnt land everywhere, craters where explosions had occurred and various people's possessions scattered over the road. It was a sorrowful sight but Casey didn't stop driving onwards towards Corinth City._

_Theo and Lily were sitting in the back and were looking sorrowfully into each other's eyes. Neither of them said anything and RJ found it slightly uncomfortable being anywhere near them when they were like that. _

_Casey was obviously uncomfortable as well as, in an attempt to distract himself from them, he decided that he would talk to RJ._

"_What did Master Mao say to you, RJ?" Casey asked as he drove along the road._

"_It was nothing important, Casey," RJ replied abruptly. "Forget about it."_

He's obviously lying. _Casey thought. _I wonder just what it was that Master Mao said to him...

_Minutes later, Casey was distracted from his thoughts as he slammed on the brakes. The bridge ahead had been destroyed by the Grinders which meant that they had to go on foot from there onwards. As they got out of the car, the heat began to have an effect on them._

_In the car, the air-conditioning had protected them from the dehydrating effects of the harsh sun but, now, they had no protection and, because they didn't have any supplies with them, they were beginning to feel rather dehydrated._

"_Before we go any further, we're best to get a drink from the river. It's going to be a long walk from here," RJ suggested. The others nodded and they drank as much as they could from the river. Then, with great difficulty, they managed to swim to the other side, climb up the bank to the road and stop._

"_Our wet clothes should protect us from the heat for a while so we had better try to make good use of the protection. When it runs out, things are only going to get more difficult on our journey to Corinth," Casey said._

"_We're halfway there, anyway," Lily replied as she pointed to the road sign which said that Corinth was only 20 miles away now. Lily knew that it was forty miles to Corinth from Ocean Bluff because she had visited Corinth once before but twenty miles on foot was still a significant distance for them to walk. Especially under the blistering sun._

"_We'll be able to do it," Theo smiled. "We're Pai Zhua, the hardiest of warriors, and we're not going to let the odds against us stop us."_

_RJ smiled. "That's exactly the attitude that I wanted to hear from you. I've got faith in all of you. We'll make it to Corinth. I know it."_

_With that, RJ started walking and the other Jungle Fury Rangers soon followed behind him. It was going to be a long difficult journey and they knew fine well that there was a chance that they wouldn't make it. However, they had been strengthened by Theo's words enough that they were all going to make a good attempt to get to Corinth at the very least as they would disgrace the name of Pai Zhua if they didn't._

_**Somewhere On The Road To Corinth, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-afternoon, a while later**_

"_It's the end of the road," RJ said grimly. "The Grinders have already caused so much destruction in this area that they've created a desert."_

_As far as the eye could see, the area ahead was virtually all sand in all directions. They had now reached the end of the road and they had to decide now what they were going to do._

"_We can't stop now. We're surely almost there!" Casey exclaimed just as RJ heard a metallic ringing noise behind him. He turned to find that Grinders were fast approaching them all._

"_And we're not going to stop! There are Grinders behind us! Run!" RJ replied._

_The Jungle Fury Rangers broke into a run seconds later as the Grinders opened fire. After a few minutes, the domed city of Corinth appeared on the horizon and hope filled all of their hearts. _

_With that hope, though, came Grinders on motorcycles. They appeared over the dunes nearby and started firing at them. They dodged the first blast and picked up the pace as they ran._

"_Guys, we're almost there but those Grinders are closing in on us," Casey exclaimed as they dodged a blast from another Grinder on a motorcycle. "We've got to keep moving."_

_They kept running and running for what seemed forever even though Corinth City was just on the horizon. Everything was going well until they had to descend down one side of a massive dune. Then, everything went horribly wrong as a shot from a Grinder hit Lily in the back and she fell forward. Theo cried out to her and Casey had turned to her in shock._

"_Get up, we can't stop," RJ commanded. Lily shook her head as she tried. She fell back onto the sand._

"_I can't. My ankle! It's twisted! Go on without me!" she exclaimed._

"_I won't leave you," Theo vowed as the Grinders grew closer to them._

"_Theo, you carry Lily, I'll hold off the Grinders," Casey decided. Before anyone could stop him, Casey went through the stances and morphed into the Red Jungle Fury Ranger. He then set off to hold off the Grinders._

"_Call to the spirit within, free the Tiger!" Casey called as he unleashed hi__s Tiger Spirit onto the Grinders. It destroyed several of them but several more took their place._

I've only got to keep them occupied for a few more minutes. _Casey thought to himself as he fought the Grinders. He dodged attacks from the Grinders where he could but, due to the fact that he was completely surrounded, he couldn't dodge all of the blows. The ones that hit him made him grunt in pain but Casey managed to remain in the form of the Red Jungle Fury Ranger as they weren't powerful enough to force him to power him down._

_Eventually, after a few minutes of fighting the Grinders, one struck him with a powerful blow to the shoulder which caused him to be forcibly powered down._

Let's hope I bought you enough time, guys. _Casey thought as he prepared to make his escape. _

_As quickly as he could, Casey summoned his Tiger spirit again and used it to punch a hole through the ranks of the Grinders which he used to make his escape into the desert with the Grinders in pursuit close behind him._

_**Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late afternoon, some time later**_

_As Casey ran through the desert, he was in pain from his injuries and he could feel that he was starting to get exhausted. However, he couldn't stop. If he stopped, he knew that the Grinders pursuing him would catch him and he didn't want to end up in their clutches._

It's a miracle that I'm still nice and cool because of my soaking clothes. Let's just hope that it lasts for a little while longer as I doubt that I'll be able to survive long in the heat. _Casey thought as he ran. _

_At that moment, he was almost struck in the back by a shot from the Grinders so he dared to look back. The Grinders were still quite far behind him but they were starting to catch up a little._

I had better pick up the pace. _Casey thought grimly as he picked up the pace a little. _I can't let them catch me.

_**Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early evening, some time later**_

_As Casey was almost struck by another shot from the Grinders again some time later, he dared to look back. Then, he groaned._

They're getting even closer. I had better pick up the pace again. _He thought wearily. Exhaustion was just beginning to set in and, due to the fact his clothing had finally dried, he was started to feel the heat. _

_As Casey continued onwards, he knew that his time was beginning to run out. He knew that he couldn't last at the pace he was going at for much longer so he had to keep running and find a way of losing the Grinders on his tail. In the end, though, Casey knew that he could only hope that, by some miracle, he would escape them as the odds didn't seem to be on his side._

_**Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, some time later**_

_As Casey continued to run, despite the fact that he was now utterly exhausted, starving, thirsty and in a great deal of aching pain, he didn't notice the rock and he tripped._

_He hit the ground with a thud and it took him several minutes before he managed to get back up onto his feet again. By that time, though, it was too late._

_The Grinders surrounded him and Casey knew that he was in a lot of trouble. However, he was determined not to let them capture him as he couldn't let them get their hands upon his Solar Morpher and the secrets of the Power Rangers._

_He took out his Solar Morpher and put it on. Then, he went through the stances as he wearily called out, "Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" _

_Seconds later, he had morphed into his Ranger form. The Grinders began to circle him and, with a little difficulty, a weary Casey managed to get into a fighting stance so that he would be able to fight them off._

"_You're not going to get me," he vowed to the Grinders as the Shark Sabers appeared in his hands. As the Grinders leapt at him, Casey managed to somehow overcome the pain and go through various stances as he decimated their ranks._

_After several long minutes of fighting, Casey finally managed to finish off what Grinders remained by unleashing his Tiger spirit for one final time. However, the effort of doing this cost Casey quite a great deal because the Shark Sabers vanished from his hands as he no longer had the strength to hold onto them. _

_Casey took several deep breaths as he tried to recover a little of his strength. His weary muscles were now screaming in agony because of how heavily Casey had abused them and he was started to feel quite dizzy because the heat had dehydrated him quite badly. He knew that he needed to rest and soon._

_However, he also knew that he couldn't afford to stop here in the middle of the desert. There was no protection from the harsh sunlight anywhere and there was no sign of anything that he could eat or drink either. He grimaced._

_Despite his weariness, Casey slowly began to stagger away from the devastation that he had caused by destroying all of the Grinders which had pursued him._

Mind over matter. _He reminded himself as he staggered onwards deeper into the desert in the hope of finding some shelter or some water somewhere._

_**Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late evening, some time later**_

Water! At last! _Casey thought in excitement as he finally staggered onto a beach. However, at that moment, he suddenly felt even dizzier than he had been during the long journey to get here. _No, not now!

_He slowly staggered towards the water but, before he could reach it, he collapsed onto the sand and was forcibly powered down._

No... not yet... _Casey thought as he started to drag himself towards the water so that he could get a drink. He knew that, if he didn't drink, there was a chance that he wouldn't survive for much longer at all._

_However, before he could get very much further, Casey's vision began to grow all blurry and, within minutes, everything went black._


	3. Memories of Light: Lightspeed, Rescue!

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Memories Of Light: Lightspeed, Rescue!

by Lauraac2110

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning**_

"_Sir?" Carter Grayson said respectfully as he and the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers entered the Command Centre with the Titanium Ranger, Ryan Mitchell, not far behind them. A few minutes earlier, an alarm had gone off and, as soon as the six of them had heard it, they had made their way straight to the Command Centre because they knew that it could only mean one thing. Trouble._

"_Rangers, I'm afraid that we've got trouble in Mariner Bay," Captain Mitchell said grimly as he turned to them. "Sensors scattered across the town suggest that a massive explosion went off there a few minutes ago. Since then, we've had several SOS signals from various people there."_

"_Have you got any ideas about what caused the explosion?" Kelsey asked. _

"_No, we don't," he replied simply. "Hence, I'm sending you to investigate. Find out about what caused that explosion."_

"_And carry out your usual search and rescue mission," Miss Rawlings added as she entered. "The Rescue Rover is waiting for you in the hangar."_

"_We will," Ryan promised. "And we'll report back if we find anything."_

"_Rangers!" Carter said grimly. "Let's go."_

_And, without another word, the six Rangers left the Command Centre._

"_Sir, what do you think caused the explosion?" Miss Rawlings asked._

_Captain William Mitchell grimaced. "I honestly don't know. I do know one thing, though."_

"_What's that, sir?" she asked._

"_We're in trouble," he replied grimly. "The explosion that the sensors registered was massive. Whatever caused it isn't going to be a walk in the park for the Rangers. I only hope that they're ready for a challenge because they're about to face one."_

_**Mariner Bay, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning, several minutes later**_

_When the Rescue Rover finally arrived in town, the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and the Titanium Ranger were confronted by a scene of absolute devastation. All around them, buildings were in ruins and fires were spreading rapidly through the streets._

"_It's chaos," Joel whispered in horror. "I wonder what could have caused all this destruction."_

"_I don't think that we need to wonder. Look!" Carter said as he pointed to a group of screaming citizens who were fleeing onto the street whilst being pursued by metallic monsters._

"_What on earth are they?" Chad exclaimed._

"_That doesn't matter right now, Chad," Kelsey said grimly. "Those people are going to need our help. We can figure out what they are later."_

"_Kelsey's right," Dana agreed. _

"_Ready?" Ryan asked as he reached down to the Titanium Morpher on his wrist. The others nodded._

"_Ready," they agreed as they reached down to their Rescue Morphers. "Lightspeed, Rescue!"_

"_Titanium Power!" Ryan called. _

_They morphed._

"_All right. Let's try to get rid of these metallic monsters as quickly as we possibly can," Carter said. "Mariner Bay is officially a disaster zone and, if we don't get rid of these metallic monsters quickly, it will be reduced to ruins."_

_The other Rangers nodded. Then, they charged at the approaching metallic monsters with their Rescue Blasters drawn._

_As the Rangers fought the metallic monsters, it quickly became apparent to them that they were completely outnumbered. Every time they destroyed several of the metallic monsters, several more appeared from one of the nearby streets to join the battle. However, the Rangers weren't going to give up despite the fact that the odds were stacked against them as they knew that the people of Mariner Bay were depending on them to get rid of the metallic monsters so that they could then save as many people as they could from the ruins of buildings and from the fires._

"_Wow, even the Batlings weren't this numerous," Joel exclaimed as he dodged several shots from the metallic monsters and took several of them out._

"_I know," Chad agreed from where he fought nearby. "I don't know if we'll be able to beat them or not."_

"_We've got to try our best," Carter countered as he took out another metallic monster. "People are depending on us."_

"_Carter's right," Dana agreed as she took out several metallic monsters in the one go before she moved to help Carter out. "A lot of lives are at risk because of these things. We've got to do our best to take them out."_

"_Our best might not be enough!" Kelsey warned as she was thrown back against the Rescue Rover. "There are just too many of them!"_

_Seconds later, the other four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were thrown against the Rescue Rover at her side as Ryan continued fighting away nearby. As he turned to them after he had taken out another metallic monster, several of the metallic monsters fired at the Rescue Rover from behind._

"_Guys! Move!" Ryan exclaimed._

_The five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers saw the shots coming and instantly dove away from the Rescue Rover as the shots collided with it. The Rescue Rover then burst into a raging fireball which soon scattered all sorts of debris everywhere as it exploded._

"_Guys!" Ryan exclaimed as he fought his way through the metallic monsters to the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers who lay still on the ground near to the fireball. "Guys!"_

_Several groans escaped their lips as the five of them struggled to get back up. As soon as they were on their feet, though, they were forcibly powered down due to the injuries they had sustained._

"_That was rough," Carter groaned as he clutched his chest._

"_Yeah," the others agreed. Ryan grimaced._

"_I guess it's just me now," he said as he turned and got ready to face the metallic monsters that were slowly advancing towards him._

_At that moment, Carter's communicator in his morpher beeped and Captain Mitchell's voice could clearly be heard by all six Rangers as the communication link became active._

"_You're hopelessly outnumbered out there," he said grimly. "Sensors are picking up hundreds of these metallic monsters in the city and, as far as we can tell, there are even more in the area around the town. I'm afraid that we've got no choice. You must retreat for now."_

"_But sir...!" Carter began in protest._

"_No buts. Come back to the Aquabase immediately," he commanded as the communication link was shut down._

"_I'm afraid that my father is right," Dana said grimly. "If we stay, we'll be destroyed by these metallic monsters. There are just too many of them."_

"_What about all of the people?" Chad demanded._

"_We'll regroup and come back with a better strategy, Chad," Joel replied. "This isn't the end."_

"_Joel's right. We'll have a better chance of beating those things if we regroup," Kelsey added._

"_All right, we're leaving," Carter declared grimly. "Ryan?"_

_At that moment, Ryan had spotted a young child who had just wandered onto the street crying for his parents. He stared._

What's that kid doing here... _he thought._

"_Ryan!" Dana exclaimed to snap him out of his thoughts. "Come on!"_

"_I'll be along in a minute," Ryan replied. "Go ahead without me."_

"_But Captain Mitchell said..." Carter began._

"_I know what Captain Mitchell said. I'll be right behind you. I've just got to do something first," Ryan replied. "Go!"_

_The others didn't move._

"_I said go!" he exclaimed. "Trust me!"_

_With reluctance, the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers fled as Ryan quickly fought his way through the metallic monsters to the child._

"_Ranger! What's..." the child began as Ryan reached the child._

"_It's all right," Ryan soothed as he picked the child up. "I'm here to rescue you."_

"_But my mommy..." the child began as he struggled to get out of Ryan's grasp. _

"_She would want you to be safe," Ryan soothed. "Now, come on."_

_The child stopped struggling at that moment as Ryan carried him through the swarm of metallic monsters and fled to catch up with the others._

_When he finally caught up with the others, they were surprised to see the child in his arms._

"_Where did he..." Dana began._

"_He showed up in the street we were in. I just couldn't leave him to the mercy of those metallic monsters," Ryan explained. "Dana, could you carry him?"_

"_But I want you to carry me, Ranger!" the child protested._

"_Dana's a Ranger too," Ryan said gently. "Besides, I need my hands in case we run into trouble."_

_The child nodded and Dana took him from Ryan._

"_All right, let's get out of here," Carter said grimly. "I don't want these metallic monsters to follow us to the Aquabase."_

"_Right," the other Rangers agreed as all of them fled back to the Aquabase._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early afternoon, some time later**_

_As the six Rangers entered the Command Centre, Miss Rawlings gently took the child, who had somehow managed to fall asleep on the journey to the Aquabase, from Dana._

"_Don't worry, I'll take good care of him," she promised as she carried him away. Ryan finally powered down at this point._

"_If I may say so, sir, you're lucky that we decided to take a holiday on the rebuilt Aquabase this week," Kelsey said. "If we weren't, you would have been in a great deal of trouble right now."_

_Captain Mitchell laughed grimly at this. "Yes, I suppose I should be glad that fate brought you here," he said. "I don't know what I would do right now if you weren't here."_

_He fell silent for several minutes as he carefully considered their options. Then, he sighed._

"_I'm afraid that the best thing that you can do right now is go back out to Mariner Bay and find as many fleeing people as you can. For their protection, it would be best that they were brought here to the Aquabase," Captain Mitchell declared grimly. _

"_If I may ask, sir, how are we going to protect them any better here?" Chad asked._

"_By taking the Lightspeed Aquabase back under the water again," Captain Mitchell replied._

"_But sir..." Chad began. _

"_Remember that we're completely self-sufficient here, Chad," Captain Mitchell reminded him. "We filter the sea water around us to get pure drinking water, we grow more than enough fruit and vegetables in our greenhouse and we get our oxygen from the air above us." _

_Chad fell silent._

"_I guess we had better get going," Carter said grimly. "Duty calls."_

_The Lightspeed Rescue Rangers turned to leave at that moment but, before they left, they stopped when one of the crewmen rushed in._

"_Sir, we're getting reports that these metallic monsters have attacked and captured cities all over the world," she exclaimed. This news demoralised the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers._

"_If the rest of the world couldn't beat them, how can we?" Joel exclaimed. "It's hopeless."_

"_Yeah," the other four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers agreed. The Titanium Ranger, however, wasn't so demoralised._

_He clenched his fist. "It isn't hopeless. All right, it may be clear that we're not going to be able to defeat these metallic monsters but I'm not giving up."_

"_Why not? It's clearly hopeless," Kelsey said. _

"_No. It's not," Ryan exclaimed. "I'm more determined now than ever to help as many people as I can. I may not be able to save everyone but I am going to save as many people as I possibly can from a terrible fate."_

_He paused for a moment. "Are you guys going to be coming with me or am I going to have to do this on my own?" he asked._

_Carter smiled. "I'm with you," he declared before he turned to the others._

"_And so are we," they declared in agreement._

"_Well, it seems like you've inherited my persuasiveness, son," Captain Mitchell chuckled as he smiled at Ryan. "Good luck, Rangers."_

_They nodded and left. As soon as they were gone, Captain Mitchell sighed._

They're going to need it. _He thought simply._

_**Mariner Bay, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early afternoon, several minutes later**_

_As the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and the Titanium Ranger returned to Mariner Bay, they crept into a deserted alleyway and gathered round._

"_Listen up, here's how we're going to do this," Carter declared. "Ryan and I will keep these metallic monsters occupied whilst the rest of you gather up everyone you can find here."_

"_That sounds like a great plan to me," Ryan grinned as he flicked open the panel on his Titanium Morpher._

"_Ready?" Carter asked._

"_Ready," Ryan and the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers agreed. _

"_Lightspeed, Rescue!" the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers called as they activated their morphers._

"_Titanium Power!" Ryan called as he activated his morpher. They morphed._

"_All right, Ryan, let's go," Carter said as he rushed off._

"_Right behind you," Ryan said with a grin. "Try to use this distraction wisely, guys."_

_Then, he took off after Carter as the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers sighed._

"_I guess we had better get to work," Dana declared._

_And, with that, the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers set off to rescue as many people as they could._

_**Mariner Bay, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-afternoon, some time later**_

"_Carter, as much as I hate to admit it, I don't think that we'll be able to keep this up much longer," Ryan exclaimed as he took out several metallic monsters. "I'm starting to feel quite tired."_

"_So am I," Carter agreed. "However, we've got to keep going, Ryan. We've got give the others as long as possible to find and rescue as many people as possible."_

_At that moment, several explosions went off in the area around them which caused the ground to tremble quite badly. _

"_Those were the worst explosions yet," Carter exclaimed as he took out several more metallic monsters. For the second time that day, Carter's morpher beeped._

"_Sir, we're quite busy right now. Can't this wait?" Carter exclaimed just as the communication link activated. _

"_No, it can't," Captain Mitchell replied. "Gather everyone you've found so far and get back to the Aquabase immediately. Those explosions were set off by aerial attack crafts and, if you don't get out of there soon, you'll be their next target. Sensors indicate that they're starting to converge on your location."_

"_All right," Ryan replied grimly. "We'll be back soon."_

_The communication link was shut down again and Carter sighed as he broke free of the metallic monsters attacking him._

"_Let's go, Ryan," Carter said grimly. Ryan broke free as well and nodded._

_Minutes later, they returned to the alleyway where a large group of people had gathered._

"_All right, Dana, your father says it is time for us to go," Carter warned as Dana came over to them. "You take Kelsey and start taking these people to the Aquabase. Chad, Joel, Ryan, you're with me."_

"_Let me guess, we're going to hold off the metallic monsters until everyone is safely in the Aquabase?" Chad said with a grin. _

"_Pretty much," Carter replied grimly. "Let's go."_

_The four of them left and Dana watched them go with a sad smile._

Good luck, guys. _She thought before she turned to call to Kelsey who was at the back of the group of people._

"_Kelsey, gather everyone together. We're heading back to the Aquabase!" Dana called._

"_Right!" Kelsey called in reply. "Everybody, follow me!"_

_And, with that, the two of them began to lead everyone to the Lightspeed Aquabase as the three Lightspeed Rescue Rangers, and the Titanium Ranger, held off the metallic monsters nearby._

_**Mariner Bay, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-afternoon, several minutes later**_

"_...Carter, Dana and Kelsey have arrived at the Aquabase with the people that they've rescued.It's time for you and the others to come back too," Captain Mitchell called through a communication link several minutes later._

"_Right. We'll be back in a few minutes," Carter replied as he shut down the communication link. He turned to the others who were fighting with metallic monsters nearby as he took out the one he had been fighting with. "Guys, it's time for us to go."_

"_Agreed," the others said as they grimly broke free of the metallic monsters that they had been fighting with. Then, the four of them fled back to the Aquabase._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late afternoon, some time later**_

"_Sir?" Carter asked as he saw the grim expression on Captain Mitchell's face when he, Chad, Joel and Ryan entered the Command Centre._

"_Captain Mitchell forgot to tell us that he's still got one more job for us Rangers," Kelsey said simply as she and Dana entered behind the four Rangers._

"_We're going back out there, sir?" Joel asked as he turned pale._

"_Yes, I'm afraid you are," Captain Mitchell said grimly. "I need all of you to secure all of the Operation Lightspeed equipment and transport it back here to the Aquabase storage facilities."_

"_Sir, if the Aquabase stays above water for much longer..." Chad began._

"_Don't worry. The emergency camouflage technology that the Lost Galaxy Rangers sent us a while back has been protecting us from detection. None of the metallic monsters have noticed that we're here yet," Miss Rawlings assured as she entered. "Our equipment, though, is another story entirely."_

"_We fear that these metallic monsters have found it and, if they have, we fear that they'll use it like the Batlings did to cause destruction," Captain Mitchell said simply. "I don't want that to happen."_

"_Besides, I fear that we're going to need the equipment anyway," Miss Rawlings continued._

"_So do I," Carter said grimly. "All right, we'll do it. Guys?"_

_The other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and the Titanium Ranger nodded. Then, they grimly left._

"_Let's hope that it isn't already too late to salvage the equipment," Miss Rawlings said as she looked at the floor. _

"_We'll find out soon enough, Miss Rawlings. We'll find out soon enough," Captain Mitchell said with as sigh._

_**Mariner Bay, Warehouse District, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late afternoon, several minutes later**_

_As Carter grimly looked around the corner of the warehouse that the six of them were hiding behind to the nearby Operation Lightspeed Warehouse, he wasn't surprised to find the metallic monsters all over the place._

"_It looks like they've found our equipment," he said grimly as he turned back to the others. _

"_Carter, we're going to distract them, aren't we?" Ryan guessed wearily._

_Carter sighed. "I'm afraid so," he said simply in confirmation. "Whilst Ryan and I keep them occupied, you four start taking this stuff to the Aquabase. Understand?"_

_The others nodded._

"_All right, Carter. Let's just get this over with," Ryan said simply. "As soon as we draw these metallic monsters away from this place, get all the equipment away from here as quickly as possible. Take the most dangerous stuff first."_

_And, without another word, Ryan and Carter stepped out so that the metallic monsters could see them._

"_Hey, over here!" Carter exclaimed to attract their attention. The metallic monsters turned and instantly charged at both Ryan and Carter._

"_Let's go," Ryan said grimly to Carter as he turned on his heels and fled with Carter at his side. The metallic monsters followed after them in pursuit._

_As soon as all the metallic monsters were gone, Chad, Joel, Dana and Kelsey hesitantly crept out from where they were hiding and headed cautiously over to the Operation Lightspeed Warehouse. _

"_There doesn't seem to be any metallic monsters around here. Carter and Ryan seem to have drawn them all away," Chad noted. "It's safe for us to get the equipment."_

_As each of the four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers gathered up various pieces of equipment, Dana sighed as she looked at the mountain of dangerous equipment that they had to take to the Lightspeed Aquabase. _

I just hope that you can keep those metallic monsters away for a while, Ryan, Carter... _she thought. _There's a lot of equipment to be taken back to the Aquabase here...

_**Mariner Bay, Warehouse District, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early evening, some time later**_

"_That's the last of it," Kelsey declared as the four of them picked up the remaining boxes between them._

"_All right, let's get out of here before those metallic monsters show up," Joel said grimly as they left. "Someone had better call Ryan and Carter so that they know that they don't have to distract the metallic monsters any longer."_

"_I'll do it," Chad declared as he activated his communicator whilst they headed back to the Aquabase. "Let's just hope that they're able to pick up, guys..."_

_**Mariner Bay, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early evening, at that very moment**_

_As Carter's communicator beeped, a welcome feeling of relief swept through the two exhausted Rangers who had been distracting the metallic monsters for several hours now._

"_Ok, Carter. I think that it's time for us to get out of here," Ryan declared. "That has to be the others trying to tell us that they're finished over at the warehouse._

"_I had better let the others..." Carter began wearily. Ryan shook his head._

"_Don't bother. If we stop, those metallic monsters will catch us," he warned. "It's best if we just head back to the Aquabase."_

"_I suppose," Carter agreed. "Let's go."_

_And, with that, the two Rangers rushed back to the Lightspeed Aquabase. _

_**Mariner Bay, Warehouse District, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early evening, a minute later**_

"_They're not picking up," Dana said in worry as they ran._

"_Don't worry, they're both probably making their way straight back to the Aquabase right now," Kelsey reassured as she ran at his side._

"_Yeah, Dana, Kelsey's right. Knowing those two, they'll probably be waiting on us when we get back," Joel added._

"_Come on, we had better get out of here. It won't be long before the metallic monsters show up here again," Chad said with a grim smile._

_Dana sighed but didn't say anything as they made their way back to the Lightspeed Aquabase._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early evening, some time later**_

"_Father, I should..." Dana began just as Carter and Ryan entered the Command Centre. They both looked exhausted but they still managed a weary grin._

"_Go look for us? Not necessary," Ryan grinned as he and Carter powered down._

"_Told you so," Joel and Kelsey said simultaneously as they smiled at Dana and her father._

"_Sir, your orders?" Miss Rawlings asked. _

"_Take us under," Captain Mitchell commanded. "And get the emergency teleportation system online."_

"_Right away, sir," she replied. Then, she started working away frantically at the nearest console._

"_As for you, Rangers, you need to get some rest," he said quite firmly. "You've had a long day and you haven't eaten or drank anything since breakfast this morning."_

"_Yes, sir," they replied before they left._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, some time later**_

_As soon as everyone had eaten a decent meal and drank something, the six Rangers began to talk as they sat around a table together._

"_... Do you know, we're lucky that the Lost Galaxy Rangers gave us that camouflage technology otherwise we would have been destroyed by now," Dana said grimly. _

"_We're trapped in here, though. With the Aquabase underwater, we can't go anywhere," Chad said grimly._

"_Not true," Carter replied grimly. "One of the Original Rangers was kind enough to provide us with the plans to build an emergency teleport system. Once Miss Rawlings has it ready, we'll be able to teleport out of here easily enough."_

_Silence fell over the six Rangers for several moments._

"_Guys, I can't stay here," Kelsey declared as she stood up. "I'm going back out there."_

"_What?" Joel exclaimed. "Kelsey, you've..."_

"_Listen, there could still be people out there," she replied as a pained expression appeared on her face. "I just can't sit here whilst they are in trouble."_

"_I'm coming with you," Carter said as he stood._

"_So am I," Dana agreed as she stood as well._

"_If you're both going to go with her then so am I," Chad added firmly as he stood too._

_Ryan looked at Joel._

"_You're going to go too, aren't you?" Joel accused. _

"_Of course. Now, are you coming too or are you staying here by yourself?" Ryan demanded as he stood._

"_I'm coming," Joel replied as he stood. "There's no way that I'm going to let the rest of you get all of the fun."_

"_All right, let's head to the Command Centre," Dana said grimly. "We'll need to persuade my father to let us go."_

"_Since you're the persuasive one, we'll let you do the persuading, Ryan," Carter declared. _

_Ryan turned pale as the others left him standing by the table at that moment._

"_What? You can't be serious. Guys! Guys!" Ryan exclaimed as he rushed to catch up with them._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, some time later**_

"_Rangers, I thought that I said you were to get some rest," Captain Mitchell said firmly as the six of them entered the Command Centre._

"_Sir, we can't rest whilst there are people out there in trouble," Carter said grimly. "We want to go back out and see if we can find anyone else out there."_

"_No," Captain Mitchell said quite firmly. "It's just too risky out there now."_

"_Father, as Power Rangers, taking risks to rescue people is a part of our job," Ryan countered. "Please, let us go."_

_Captain Mitchell shook his head. "No."_

"_Sir, if I may, we really need to send a party to scout the perimeter out there," Miss Rawlings said from where she was working at a nearby console. "Since everything went quiet on the sensors an hour ago, we've no idea about what is happening out there. You might want to consider allowing the Rangers to go. They can search for people and, at the same time, scout the perimeter."_

_Captain Mitchell sighed. "You make a fair point, Miss Rawlings," he admitted reluctantly. "All right, Rangers, I'll let you go. However, on the condition that you scout Mariner Bay and the surrounding area as you search for anyone escaping those metallic monsters."_

"_Thank you, sir," Carter said respectfully. "So, Miss Rawlings, is the emergency teleport system ready?"_

_She nodded. "Yes. I've never tested it before now, though, so I can't guarantee that it'll work."_

"_It'll work. He swore in Zordon's name that it would," Dana said quite firmly. "And the Original Rangers don't use that kind of oath lightly because of what Zordon means to them."_

"_Fair point," Miss Rawlings agreed. "All right, are you ready to go?"_

"_As ready as we'll ever be, Angela," Joel said with a sigh._

"_I'm going to deposit you guys in Mariner Bay," she said as she activated the teleport controls. "When you need to come back to the Aquabase, just contact us here and we'll bring you back."_

_They waited for a few moments._

"_Nothing is..." Ryan began just as the six Rangers vanished in flashes of light._

"_Dana was right," Captain Mitchell noted. "It seems that the emergency teleport system works."_

_**Mariner Bay, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, several minutes later**_

"_...happening," Ryan finished as they reappeared in Mariner Bay._

"_Apparently not, Ryan," Kelsey chuckled. "We're here."_

_At that moment, they heard the sound of metallic monsters approaching._

"_Quickly, over there!" Dana exclaimed as she pointed to a nearby alleyway. The six Rangers rushed into it and, after waiting a minute or so, they saw patrols of metallic monsters pass by the alleyway._

"_Just great," Carter cursed. "All right, everyone, we're going to split up. Dana, you and Ryan are going to take the southern part of the town. Joel, you and Chad are going to take the northern part of town. Kelsey, you and I are going to take the central part of town."_

"_Wouldn't it be better if we stayed together?" Chad asked._

"_No, it wouldn't, Chad," Joel countered. "If we stay together, we'll be more easily noticed by these metallic monsters."_

"_All right, everyone, meet back here when you've searched your area," Carter said. "If you run into any problems, or find anyone, let everyone else know through the communicators. Kelsey?"_

"_Way ahead of you, Carter," she replied as they left. The others sighed._

"_Dana, we had better go," Ryan said grimly. She nodded and left._

_Chad and Joel looked at each other and sighed._

"_We had better get going," Chad said grimly. "Stay close, Joel."_

"_I will," Joel promised as they left the alleyway as well._

_**Mariner Bay, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, some time later**_

"_Well?" Carter asked as soon as Dana and Ryan arrived back in the alleyway._

"_Nothing. It was completely deserted and most buildings were in absolute ruins," Dana replied grimly._

"_There were no signs of people anyway," Ryan continued. "Those metallic monsters were everywhere."_

"_We found the same," Chad and Joel reported grimly as they too arrived back in the alleyway._

"_And so did we," Carter said with a sigh. _

"_I guess we had better go search the area around town then," Ryan said grimly. _

"_Yeah," Carter agreed. "This way."_

_And, without another word, the Rangers left Mariner Bay to search the surrounding area._

_**Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late evening, some time later**_

_As soon as the Rangers entered the area surrounding Mariner Bay, they couldn't believe what they were seeing whilst they looked around._

"_Wow, it's virtually like a desert out here," Chad said in horror._

"_The explosions that those metallic monsters were setting off must have done this," Carter said sadly. "It's horrible."_

"_There's no sign of anyone anywhere," Joel noted as he looked around. "Perhaps we should head back to the Aquabase __right now and report what we've found to Captain Mitchell."_

"_No, we're not going back yet. Not until we've searched everywhere we can," Kelsey said quite firmly. _

"_I'm with Kelsey on this, guys," Dana said quietly._

_Carter nodded. "All right, we keep searching. For now."_

"_Keep your eyes peeled. It's only going to get more difficult to spot people because of how dark it is getting out here," Ryan warned as they started to search the surrounding area. "If there is still anyone out here that is..." _

_**Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, very late in the evening, some time later**_

_They had been searching for hours and hadn't found anyone. Everyone, even Kelsey, had almost given up hope of finding anyone when Ryan spotted the unconscious form of a man lying on the beach._

"_Guys, over here!" Ryan exclaimed. "There's a man over here."_

_The five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers turned at the Titanium Ranger's call and rushed over._

"_Is he..." Kelsey began quietly as she turned pale. Ryan hesitantly turned the man over and removed the odd-pair of red sunglasses that he was wearing._

"_I'm not sure," Ryan admitted as he dragged the unconscious man into his lap. "Dana?"_

_Dana nodded and hesitantly listened to the man's heartbeat._

"_He's still alive," she noted as she looked him over. "Barely, though, if his horrific injuries are anything to go by."_

_The man was covered in cuts, scrapes, bruises and burns and it was only now that the other Rangers noticed this._

"_And he appears to be severely dehydrated. Wherever he's from, it's not from around here," she said grimly. "He's been out in the sun for quite some time and it shows. We need to get him back to the Aquabase right away."_

"_I'll call Angela," Joel said grimly as he activated the communicator in his morpher. Seconds later, after the communication link had been established, he said simply, "Emergency transport to Medical Bay required, Angela. We've found somebody who is badly injured and in need of emergency care."_

"_Ok, I'm teleporting you back now," she replied. "Make sure that you're holding tightly to your injured person otherwise this might not work."_

"_All right," Ryan replied as he picked up the unconscious man and draped him over his shoulder. Seconds later, they vanished in flashes of coloured light._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Medical Bay, the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, very late in the evening, several minutes later**_

"_Ryan, you stay here with me," Dana commanded as they reappeared in the Medical Bay. "The rest of you go to the Command Centre and brief Captain Mitchell on what we found."_

_Chad, Joel, Kelsey and Carter left at that moment as Ryan gently lowered the unconscious man onto the nearest bed. Dana instantly went over to the medicine cabinet and quickly took out painkillers and a drip._

"_Ryan, fetch the monitors and hook him up to them," she commanded. Ryan nodded and instantly went into the cupboard. After a few minutes of searching, he pulled out the heart rate monitors and hooked the unconscious man up to them as Dana hooked him up to a drip to replace the fluids that he had lost._

_Unsurprisingly, the unconscious man's heart rate was rapidly fluctuating from a very low level to a very high level because of the fact that he was so badly injured. _

"_Has he got any identification on him?" Dana asked. Ryan searched the unconscious man's pockets before shaking his head._

"_Nothing," he said grimly as he put the red odd-looking sunglasses on the table beside the bed. "The only thing that he had on him were these sunglasses."_

_Dana sighed. "Father won't like this. If anything, he hates mysteries," she murmured._

"_Shouldn't we put him on painkillers?" Ryan suggested. "He's so badly injured that he'll wake up in agony if we don't."_

"_Fair point," she noted. "For his own safety, he should be on a moderate dose of painkillers. I'll get them."_

_As she went back over to the medicine cabinet to fetch the painkillers, Captain Mitchell and Miss Rawlings entered._

"_Is it all right if I see him?" Captain Mitchell asked. Dana nodded as she took the painkillers out of the cabinet and __went over to administer them to the unconscious man._

_Both Captain Mitchell and Miss Rawlings looked over the unconscious man._

"_What a strange uniform he is wearing," Captain Mitchell remarked. "Did he have any identification on him?"_

_Ryan shook his head. "No, father. The only thing that he had on him was the odd-looking pair of sunglasses on the table."_

"_May I see them?" Miss Rawlings asked. Ryan nodded and passed them to her. She examined them for several moments but couldn't see anything to suggest that they were more than they seem. Then, she put them back at the unconscious man's bedside. "Hmm. I'll be interested to know this one's tale."_

"_So will I," Captain Mitchell agreed. "Come, Miss Rawlings, I think that it is time you joined your husband in getting a well deserved rest. Dana, a word?"_

_Miss Rawlings nodded and left as Dana sighed._

"_Yes, father?" she replied._

"_Outside," he said simply. They both left the Medical Bay at that moment which left Ryan alone with the unconscious man._

_Ryan looked at him sadly. He felt sorry for the unconscious man because he wasn't from around here so he would be completely alone when he woke._

I'm going to do everything that I can to help you. _Ryan vowed as he settled into the chair at the unconscious man's bedside._ I woke alone when Diabolico took me away and I won't let you wake alone as well. Especially after all the difficult hardships you appear to have gone through...

_At that moment, Dana returned._

"_Shouldn't you be getting some rest too?" she suggested. Ryan smiled._

"_I'm staying right here," he said quite firmly._

"_Oh no you're not," Dana countered. "You need to get some rest, Ryan."_

"_I can get my rest here perfectly well," Ryan replied. _

"_You don't even know this man," Dana exclaimed. "Why do you wish to stay at his bedside?"_

"_He's not from around here," Ryan said. "So, when he wakes, he'll be alone if I don't stay. I know what it is like to wake alone after enduring a great hardship and I don't want another person to go through what I did."_

"_He won't be alone," Dana insisted. "I'll be around. You need rest, Ryan."_

"_You don't understand Dana," Ryan snapped. "And I doubt that you ever will. I'm staying and that's the end of this argument."_

_Dana cursed at him and stormed off. Ryan sighed._

Sometimes, I wonder if she really is my sister... _he thought as he smiled sadly. Then, he yawned. _

It has been a long day. _Ryan thought as he looked at the unconscious man. _For both of us, it seems...

_He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes._

Perhaps I'll just get a little rest..._ he thought as he fell into a deep sleep._


	4. Memories of Recovery Part 1: Not Alone

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Memories of Recovery Part 1: Not Alone

by Lauraac2110

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Medical Bay, several days after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early morning**_

_As Casey stirred, a soft groan escaped his lips. His entire body ached and, on top of that, he felt extremely stiff. For several moments, he quickly went over everything that he could remember about what had happened before he had passed out._

_Then, he hastily open his eyes to check his surroundings. He was in some sort of Medical Bay, somewhere that had obviously escaped the Venjix invasion and, by the looks of things, the Medical Bay had seen frequent use recently._

Where am I? _Casey thought in confusion. _How on earth did I get here?

_Slowly, he moved into an upright position and tilted his head to one side so that he could check his bedside. And that's when he saw him._

_The man at his bedside. _

Who is he? What is he doing here? _Casey wondered as he looked the man over._

_By the slow rhythm of his breathing, Casey could tell that the man was fast asleep. He also appeared to be a member of the military if the way he kept his hair, sat down and slept was anything to go by. He looked to be as old as RJ but, by the looks of things, he wasn't as old as he appeared._

_At that moment, Casey spotted the device strapped to the man's wrist and took in a deep breath._

He's a Power Ranger. It seems that I must have been rescued by another group of Rangers which operate in the area that I fled to. _Casey thought. _They must have found me lying there on the beach. Then, they must have brought me here, wherever here is, and nursed me back to health.

_Casey sighed at that moment. _I wonder how long I've been out...

_He jerked his arm at that moment to slide off the bed and noticed that they had connected him up to a drip. With a sigh, Casey expertly disconnected himself and checked himself over._

_His clothing was filthy and torn in a few places but Casey knew that, with the some thread and a needle, he would easily be able to repair the damage once his clothes were clean. He checked his pockets at that moment and, to his alarm, he quickly discovered that his Solar Morpher was missing._

_His alarm didn't last long, though, as he spotted it sitting on the small table by his bedside. With relief, Casey instantly picked up the device and checked it over. Fortunately, it had not been damaged although it was going to need to be charged for quite some time before he would be able to use it to morph again._

I wonder if they've figured out that I, too, am a Power Ranger as well or not. _Casey thought before he spotted the file that was sitting at his bedside. Almost instantly, he picked it up and began to flick through it._

_He was especially amused to find that they hadn't figured that out. In fact, they had absolutely no idea who he was._

Surely they would have records of other Rangers here. Wherever here is, that is. _Casey thought before he paused for a moment. _Maybe I should go investigate...

_Hesitantly, he slowly slipped off the bed at that moment. As soon as he was standing upon both of his legs, they buckled under his weight. Due to how badly he had abused them to escape from the Grinders, Casey wasn't surprised this happened. However, he cursed as he didn't manage to catch himself on the edge of the bed in time which meant that he he collapsed straight onto the floor with a loud thump._

_This woke the man who had been, up until this point, asleep by Casey's bedside. He was somewhat startled for a moment until he saw Casey lying on the floor before he sighed._

"_So you're finally awake," the man said calmly. "Here, let me help you up."_

_He bent down at that moment and, gratefully, Casey accepted his help as the man lifted him back onto the bed._

"_My name is Ryan Mitchell," Ryan said calmly. "And you?"_

"_Casey," Casey replied. "Casey Rhodes."_

_There were several moments of silence between them as both waited for the other to speak. Finally, Casey decided to break it._

"_Where am I? What happened?" he asked._

"_You are currently somewhere just off the coast of America near Mariner Bay, the exact location is classified, in the Lightspeed Aquabase," Ryan replied. "We found you lying unconscious in a bad way further up the beach from here. We brought you back here. Since then, we have been attending to your injuries over the past few days."_

_Casey nodded but didn't say anything else._

"_So how on earth did you end up on that beach? Were you alone? And what was your life like before today?" Ryan asked._

_Casey was silent for a moment as he considered his options. After several moments, he decided that he wasn't going to let them know that he was a Power Ranger until he felt that he could trust them. He also decided that he wasn't going to talk much about his life or about his friends as much as possible either. They were painful topics and, on top of that, they could potentially accidentally reveal the fact he was also a Power Ranger to them._

"_I don't want to talk about what I've lost," he said bitterly. "I was travelling with my friends when the Grinders found us. I got away but, as far as I know, my friends are probably dead right now."_

"_Is that what they're called?" Ryan asked curiously. "We just know them as metallic monsters."_

_Casey shrugged. "That's what the news was calling them," he lied. "Didn't you see it?"_

_Ryan shook his head. "I was... busy," he replied cryptically._

Being a Power Ranger and saving people, I bet. _Casey thought._

_They sat in silence for several more moments and Ryan took the opportunity to study Casey very closely._

I know that you are hiding something, Casey Rhodes_. Ryan thought. _Something big. I'm not going to press you, though.

"_So could you tell me more about this Aquabase?" Casey asked hesitantly to change the subject._

"_Sure, it's..." Ryan began._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Medical Bay, several days after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-morning, some time later**_

_As Ryan finally finished telling Casey all about the Aquabase, two more guests arrived in the Medical Bay._

"_You're awake," the woman said in surprise. "I didn't quite expect you to be awake so quickly."_

"_I normally bounce back from injury quite quickly," Casey assured. "Or so my friends used to say."_

"_Casey, this is my sister Dana Mitchell and our commander Captain Mitchell," Ryan introduced quickly._

_Casey nodded. "My name is Casey Rhodes," he said simply._

"_So, Mr Rhodes, care to tell us how you ended up on the beach?" Captain Mitchell demanded._

"_Other than that I accidentally stumbled onto the beach after evading the Grinders, no," he replied simply._

_At the word "Grinders", both Captain Mitchell and Dana looked to Ryan for explanation. In reply, he mouthed "the metallic monsters" back at them._

"_Surely there must be more to the story than that?" Captain Mitchell demanded._

"_The rest of the story is personal," Casey answered. "And I'd rather not talk about it. I lost some of my closest friends a few days ago."_

"_Mr Rhodes, I really do need to know about what happened," Captain Mitchell said rather sternly._

"_No, you don't. I'm here and that's all that should matter to you," Casey replied calmly. "The rest is none of your business."_

_This infuriated Captain Mitchell._

"_As a Captain in the American Navy, I order you to..." he began._

_Casey shrugged. "I'm not in the Navy, Captain, so you can't order me to do anything."_

_Dana and Ryan, who were watching this argument with a little surprise as no one had directly refused anything that Captain Mitchell had said so calmly before, decided that they had to intervene at that moment as they noticed that Casey's heartbeat had started fluctuating rapidly._

"_Father, you are aggravating his condition," Dana warned. "I know that you want answers but he hasn't recovered fully yet to be put under strenuous questioning. I suggest that you wait for him to recover fully before you ask him any more questions."_

_Captain Mitchell grumbled something inaudible in reply before he stormed off. Casey sighed as his heartbeat returned to normal. Then, he calmly disconnected himself from the heart monitor as well._

"_Why was he acting so much like a pompous bastard?" Casey asked. "What happened to me is none of his business."_

_At that moment, he noticed that both Dana and Ryan were both staring at him. It was only at that moment that he knew that he had made somewhat of a mistake._

_It was only at that moment that he saw the family resemblance, made the connection between their surnames and realised one important fact. Captain Mitchell was their father._

"_I'm sorry," he apologised. "Your father has just annoyed me somewhat."_

"_Normally it takes people longer than this to make the connection. How did you guess?" Ryan asked curiously._

"_There's a family resemblance," Casey replied simply._

"_I'll just forget that you ever said that," Ryan reassured calmly. "My father doesn't normally act like that. He must be in a bad mood about something."_

"_And I won't take offence either," Dana assured. "He attempted to pull rank on you which, considering you are not in the military, was not the best of options."_

"_I've had people try to pull rank on me before," Casey said with a sigh. "I find that defying them is normally the best policy."_

_At that moment, Dana noticed that Casey had disconnected himself from the monitors and the drip._

"_You shouldn't have disconnected yourself," Dana warned. "You were badly injured so you're going to need to stay hooked up to the fluids recover."_

"_Now that I'm awake, the fluids are unnecessary," Casey assured. "Once I've had something to eat, a lot to drink and taken some rest, I'll start recovering quickly without them."_

"_I could take you down to the canteen if you want," Ryan offered. "But first, though, you're going to need to get a change of clothes."_

"_Thank you," Casey replied gratefully. "I'd like that."_

_As gently as possible, Ryan hooked an arm under Casey's so that he could support Casey enough that he could stand on his own two feet without collapsing again. Casey grunted in pain somewhat but managed to ignore it as they left the Medical Bay and Dana behind them._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, several days after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning, some time later**_

_Casey and Ryan, once they had gotten Casey into some clean clothes, had quickly made their way to the canteen. There, they been joined by the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and Angela Rawlings mid-way through their breakfast. After he had been introduced to all of them, Casey had quietly listened in to their conversations so that he could see what kind of people they were and get to know them._

_Carter instantly struck Casey as the no nonsense leader who everyone respected and looked up to. Kelsey was the athlete that enjoyed the occasional prank or two. Chad was the quiet, dependable member of the group who often had several good things to say. And Joel was the prankster. _

_It was Ryan that most interested Casey. Just like himself, Ryan had several different layers to himself. Casey perceived instantly that he was also the one who was somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of people at times even though he probably didn't realise it himself. He was also seemed to have an exceptionally dangerous side to him that no one else seemed to spot. _

_Instead, everyone else saw his outward appearance. They saw the reliable, relaxed and friendly member of the group who often kept his distance at times. They didn't see what Casey did._

Ryan is as complicated as I am. _Casey thought as he sat there and quietly ate his breakfast. _I can see through his masks and, if I'm right, I think that he can see through some, if not all, of mine.

_Casey sighed. _They're all very nice people, though. If I'm going to be stuck here for a while, I'm sure that they will make things exceptionally interesting. I could grow to see them as close friends...

_Casey sighed again as he was reminded of the Jungle Fury Rangers. _Just not as close friends as the other Jungle Fury Rangers were to me.

"_Casey, are you all right?" Ryan asked at that moment as he noticed that Casey was staring off into space. Casey blinked._

"_I'm just fine," Casey reassured as he snapped out of his thoughts._

"_We were just saying that when you've recovered, Casey, that we would like to get to know you," Kelsey replied. _

"_We could go swimming outside the Aquabase together," Chad offered._

"_Then, we could spend some time in the aerobatics chamber. I'll show you some of my moves," Joel offered._

"_Before you could finally watch Kelsey and I spar," Carter added. "Then, you could always spar with us. If you want, that is."_

"_As Power Rangers, you'll have an unfair advantage against him," Angela Rawlings hissed so quietly in a voice that Casey couldn't hear. However, Casey guessed correctly what she was saying to Carter and, after considering his options, he decided just to get all the awkwardness out the way._

"_They won't have an unfair advantage," Casey assured. "Even though you are Power Rangers, I happen to know a few moves myself."_

_The colour drained from the five Ranger's faces._

"_How did you know?" Miss Rawlings asked._

"_I'm very perceptive," Casey replied simply as Dana entered the canteen._

"_Good morning," she said politely as she came over and sat down. When she noticed the expressions upon her friends faces, she was somewhat puzzled._

"_What's wrong?" she asked._

"_Without us even telling him, Casey knew that we were Power Rangers," Carter replied calmly. Dana too turned pale._

"_How?" she asked._

"_As I've said, I'm very perceptive," Casey replied simply without elaborating any further. Everyone else started to talk amongst themselves at that moment about how Casey could have figured it out unintentionally excluding Casey from their conversations._

_It was at that moment, as he watched the six friends talking amongst themselves, that_ _he was painfully reminded of how he, Fran and the Jungle Fury Rangers often did that themselves in the loft of the Jungle Karma Pizza Parlour._

They're probably all dead now so I'm probably never going to see them again. _Casey thought sorrowfully as he sat there. _I suppose that getting to know the Rangers here as quickly as possible would probably be the best thing that I can do now. Perhaps I should start by taking each of them up on their offers today so that I can start to get to know them better.

_Casey sighed. _Hopefully, one day soon, we will become close friends. I think that we're going to get along very well together as it is already.

_Everyone was still talking amongst themselves at that moment so Casey had to interrupt them first before he could speak._

"_I would quite like to accept all of your offers," Casey said calmly. "Today, if possible, as I'd rather not lounge around the Medical Bay by myself until I recover fully."_

"_Casey, in your current condition, it would not be a good idea," Dana said quite firmly._

"_I have to agree. You need to lounge around the Medical Bay for a few days," Miss Rawlings added grimly. _

_Casey sighed. "How about if I promise just to sit and watch today? Would you allow me to accept the offers made to me then?" he asked._

_Dana considered it for a moment before she nodded._

"_All right, you can accept their offers," she said finally. "But you will not do anything except watch or so help me I'll confine you to the Medical Bay for several weeks until you fully recover."_

_Casey smiled. He knew fine well that Dana would never have allowed him to even watch if she knew about him collapsing that morning. Now, all he had to do was hope that Ryan didn't tell her._

_Ryan, who had an unreadable expression on his face, finally sighed._

"_I'll keep a close eye on him Dana," he promised. "If at any point I think that he has disobeyed you, I'll bring him __straight back to the Medical Bay."_

"_Thanks," Casey said calmly._

"_It's not like I have anything better to do," Ryan said with a grin._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Submarine Bay, several days after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning, some time later**_

_Casey sighed as he watched Ryan and Chad on the monitor in the Submarine Bay. They were currently outside in the water around the Aquabase checking the hull integrity in full diving gear. A minor fault alarm had gone off on the day of the Venjix invasion and they were searching for the source of it at that moment. Casey, on the other hand, was stuck inside the Aquabase watching them whilst conversing with them over a radio link so that he could get to know them better._

_It wasn't so bad, to be honest, but the fact that they hadn't found the fault yet was getting a little irritating._

"_There must be a fault around here somewhere," Chad said as he glanced around at the hull. "Otherwise the alarm wouldn't have gone off."_

"_Yeah, the only problem is that we can't see it," Ryan countered as he looked around. It was at that moment that Casey knew what the fault was._

_One of the hull bolts that Ryan had just glanced at, although it wasn't so obvious to the eye, was somewhat loose. _

_With a grin, he decided to give them a hint so that they could repair it and come back to the Aquabase._

"_Is it just me or was that hull bolt you just glanced at loose, Ryan?" he asked innocently._

_Ryan instantly whipped his head around to the hull bolt in question and swore._

"_I don't know how you spotted that, Casey, but that hull bolt there is indeed loose," he replied as he examined it. Chad swam over to him and, after quickly searching through his underwater toolbox, he found the spanner required to tighten it._

"_This is going to take both of us," Chad warned as he attached the spanner to the bolt. "It is not going to be easy to tighten this bolt."_

_Ryan nodded, and together, they gripped the spanner. Then, with a great deal of effort, they slowly began to tighten the bolt again. As soon as it was tight, the fault alarm vanished._

"_We're coming back now," Ryan informed Casey. Casey nodded._

_He watched them swim back for a few minutes before he swivelled around in the chair he was sitting in to watch them resurface in the pool after they had re-entered the Aquabase through the tunnel which they had to quickly close behind them. When they resurfaced, they quickly got out of their diving gear before they both finally asked the question that had been bugging them._

"_Just how did you know about that bolt?" they both asked incredulously._

_Casey smiled. "As I've said, I'm very perceptive."_

"_Once you're better, I think that you would make a very good repairman," Chad complimented._

"_And scout," Ryan added as he helped Casey up. _

"_Thanks," Casey replied simply. _

If I never get to reveal that I'm a Ranger here then being a scout would probably be a good way to do something useful. _He added silently._

_Ryan sighed._

"_We're going to have to go see Joel, now," Ryan declared calmly. "He has probably been practising his best moves to show off to you Casey."_

"_Well, I look forward to seeing them," Casey replied with a smile. _

I might even learn some new moves from him. _Casey silently added. _But, then again, I might not...

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Aerobatics Chamber, several days after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning, some time later**_

"_Joel really seems to be in his element today," Ryan commented as they watched Joel pull various moves off in the aerobatics chamber through the glass window outside in the corridor._

"_Yeah," Casey agreed as he watched Joel pull off a series of complicated flips at that moment before he finally decided __that enough was enough. Joel switched off the massive fan at that moment by using his remote control so that he could __leave the chamber._

"_Well, what did you think? Impressive, huh?" Joel asked with a massive grin._

"_You were good," Casey complimented simply._

"_Hey!" Joel protested. "I don't think that you would be able to do much better if you tried."_

"_Let me have a go and prove you wrong then," Casey retorted._

_Both Joel and Ryan grew somewhat uneasy at this. Dana had forbidden Casey from doing anything other than watching._

"_I don't think that would be a good idea, Casey," Joel said uneasily. "Dana said this morning that you were only supposed to watch. And, especially given the fact that Ryan has been supporting you everywhere you've went, I doubt that you'll have the energy for it."_

_Ryan nodded in agreement with Joel about this._

"_Sorry, Casey, I have to agree with him on this one," he said simply._

"_Oh come on, guys, just one shot," Casey pleaded. "Besides, I won't need to support my own weight since the air will be doing that for me so it should be easy enough."_

_Joel and Ryan moved away from Casey for several moments to discuss whether or not they should relent. Whilst they were doing this, Casey waited patiently out of earshot._

_Eventually, they returned to Casey with uneasy expressions on their faces._

"_All right," Ryan conceded. "Just one quick shot. Show us your best moves."_

"_His best moves will probably be amateurish at best," Joel declared confidently. "I am an aerobatics expert, after all."_

_Casey rolled his eyes. "We'll see."_

_Casey then sighed. "Could you help me in there, Ryan?" he asked._

_Ryan nodded and did help Casey into the chamber. Then, once Casey was ready, he left the aerobatics chamber just as Joel started the massive fan up again._

_For several moments, Casey merely floated calmly whilst quickly adjusting himself accordingly. Then, despite the fact it made him quite sore, he launched into his most complicated sequence of flips and twists._

_Both Joel and Ryan were stunned by the level of ability that Casey was openly displaying to them. Joel was gaping at several moves that Casey pulled off that even he, as an expert, wouldn't normally dare to try. Ryan, however, couldn't believe what he was seeing and instantly wondered where Casey had learned those moves._

_When Casey finally got to the end of his complicated sequence of flips and twists, he stopped. Then, he gave the signal to Joel to shut the fan down._

_Once it was off, Casey picked himself up but Ryan went to his aide so that he didn't collapse again. As soon as he helped Casey out of the chamber, both Ryan and Joel eagerly gave into their curiosity._

"_You were awesome," Joel said in awe. "Where on earth did you learn to execute those moves? Some of them are so difficult that even I wouldn't try them."_

"_Yeah, you were better than Joel was and he's supposed to be our resident expert," Ryan added in agreement._

_Casey thought about his answer for a moment._

_Then, he replied with, "I've been trained in an advanced form of martial arts."_

_He paused for a moment. "The training incorporated a lot of acrobatics and, due to the intense nature of the training, I had to practice the most difficult moves to my teacher's perfection. I've never been quite so good at acrobatics, though," he continued modestly._

"_Are you kidding?" Joel exclaimed. "You were brilliant!"_

_Casey just smiled at this._

"_When you've fully recovered, you've definitely got to teach me some of your moves," Joel said with excitement. "And I'll be waiting in eager anticipation until then!"_

"_Well, we're going to go watch Kelsey and Carter spar now," Ryan declared. "Knowing both of them, they'll probably be having an intense duel soon. It helps them to work off steam although they do get somewhat carried away at times."_

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Training Gym, several days after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early afternoon, some time later**_

_As Carter and Kelsey duelled intensely with mock swords before them, Ryan and Casey watched them intently from the nearby benches. Ryan was somewhat interested in watching the outcome. Casey, however, wasn't._

_Carter and Kelsey weren't very skilled and, by the looks of things, he would easily be able to defeat them without having to break too much of a sweat in battle once he was fully recovered. Their technique, although good, was still somewhat sloppy in places which Casey could easily exploit._

_Unintentionally, he yawned at that moment and Ryan looked at him with concern._

"_Are you all right, Casey? You seem somewhat tired," Ryan asked with concern._

_Casey blinked. At that moment, he noticed that he was quite tired but decided that it would be best to lie so that Ryan didn't escort him straight to the Medical Bay again._

"_No, I'm fine," he lied. "Just a bit bored."_

"_We're boring?" Kelsey said incredulously as she and Carter were furiously pounding each other with their mock swords._

"_Perhaps we should swap these mock swords for the real things," Carter suggested. "That would liven this duel up somewhat."_

"_Guys, that doesn't sound like a good idea," Ryan said in alarm. "The last time you both duelled with swords, Joel and Chad ended up in the Medical Bay for a week when they tried to split both of you up because of how heated the duel became."_

_Carter and Kelsey weren't listening to him, however. Kelsey nodded to him and both of them put their mock swords away. Then, they went into a nearby cabinet and pulled out two curved swords of a medium length._

_As they stood ready, Kelsey grinned._

"_You're going down again, Carter," she declared._

"_That's what you think," Carter replied. "En garde."_

_Very quickly, the sound of steel on steel rang out in the training gym and Casey suddenly became very interested in watching the duel as the stakes had been upped significantly._

_Carter and Kelsey fought back and forth for several minutes and it soon became apparent that the duel was getting out of hand. Ryan watched in concern and, when Kelsey was nearly nicked by Carter's sword, he decided to get involved. He went to the cabinet and pulled out a third sword. Then, he joined the duel._

_As Casey watched the three-way duel, he realised that it would only end in disaster. He didn't want to intervene but it was clear that the aggression, competitiveness and determination between Carter and Kelsey were causing the duel to get out of hand._

_At that moment, Ryan was knocked out of the duel and knocked unconscious by a swift blow from Kelsey after Carter disarmed him. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious, but Carter and Kelsey duelled on regardless._

_It was at that moment that Casey knew that he would have to intervene. He just didn't know how, though._

_Carter and Kelsey were in their own world and the only thing that they were focusing on was each other. Joining the duel would almost certainly leave Casey like Ryan was right now, unconscious on the floor, and talking to them didn't seem to work either because they didn't listen._

_In a moment of desperation as the duel spiralled out of control, Casey cried out, "Stop!"_

_Unbeknown to Casey at that moment, he accidentally released some of his animal spirit in that cry and the Tiger shook the entire room. Carter and Kelsey quickly lost their balance and their swords. One clattered harmlessly to floor but Kelsey accidentally threw hers towards Casey._

_Reacting instinctively, Casey leapt up just before the sword could hit him and landed on its blade, with his entire weight perfectly balanced upon it, just as the sword embedded itself firmly into the wall._

_For a few moments, Casey managed to stay on the sword but, as soon as the room stopped shaking, his last bit of strength left him. With no strength to stand upright, he tumbled off of the sword._

_Fortunately for Casey, though, his cry had awoken Ryan who instantly went to his aid. Before Casey could hurt himself on the blade of the sword, Ryan caught him and pulled him away from it._

"_Thanks," Casey said simply._

_Kelsey and Carter, who were now looking somewhat guilty, sighed as they realised that the duel had gotten somewhat out of hand by the bruise that was forming on Ryan's forehead. _

"_We're sorry," they apologised."We should have listened to you, Ryan."_

"_Yes, you should have," Ryan said with a deadly glare._

"_I wonder what happened," Carter mused. Ryan shrugged._

"_It was probably just a lucky tremor," he assured. "You both should be glad that it stopped you before someone got seriously hurt."_

"_But you did get hurt," Kelsey replied._

"_It's nothing serious," Ryan reassured. "Just a little bump." _

"_What I'm curious to know is just how you did that, Casey," Carter admitted to change the topic._

_Casey shrugged. "It was part of my martial arts training," he replied simply._

"_You should have seen him in the aerobatics chamber," Ryan grinned. "Compared to Casey, Joel is a novice."_

_Kelsey and Carter raised their eyebrows at this. Neither of them said anything, though, as they were distracted by Casey sagging a great deal even though Ryan was supporting him. Carter instantly went over to Casey and, with Ryan, held him up._

"_I think that you are going straight back to Dana in the Medical Bay. You've used up all your strength," Ryan said with concern._

"_And you seem worse than you were this morning," Carter noted. _

_Casey just nodded at this._

"_I'll stay here to clean up the mess," Kelsey volunteered. "And Casey?"_

_Casey looked up at this. "Yes?" he replied._

"_When you get better, you should definitely spend some time sparing in here with me and Carter," she said with a smile. "I look forward to see how well you have been trained."_

_Casey nodded as Carter before Ryan led him away to the Medical Bay._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Medical Bay, several days after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late afternoon, some time later**_

"_You've overexerted yourself," Dana said bluntly as she examined Casey thoroughly. _

_She turned on her brother at that moment._

"_I told you not to let him do anything other than watch, Ryan," she said angrily. "Yet you let him in Joel's aerobatics chamber and you didn't stop that duel before it got out of hand. Casey could have been killed if he hadn't managed to dodge that sword!"_

_Ryan hung his head at this._

"_Dana, it's my fault," Casey admitted. "He wasn't going to let me into the aerobatics chamber but I convinced him otherwise."_

"_And there was no way that he could have stopped the duel between Kelsey and I even though he did try, Dana," Carter added. "It took that freak tremor to stop us."_

_She sighed at this._

"_If that is the case, Casey, then it seems I can't trust you," Dana said calmly. "You won't be leaving the Medical Bay for the next few weeks without my express permission. And I'll only be giving you that when you've recovered significantly from your injuries."_

_Casey sighed at this. _

"_Now, if you can excuse me, I have someone else I need to tend to," she declared before she left the Medical Bay. Casey watched her go with a sad smile upon his face. Dana, who was overprotective of her patients, reminded him of Lily, who was overprotective of her friends, somewhat._

_Seeing that Casey was upset somewhat, Ryan and Carter give each other a grim look before they decide to distract him._

"_Tough luck, I guess, Casey," Carter said grimly. _

_Casey blinked before he sighed. "It's all right," he replied calmly. "I'll find a way of enjoying my time in here."_

"_We'll help," Ryan promised._

_Casey yawned at that moment._

"_I never did thank you, Ryan, you know," Casey said wearily._

"_Whatever for?" Ryan asked in surprise._

"_For staying by my bedside whilst I was unconscious," he replied wearily as he yawned again. "It's nice to know that someone cared for me here."_

_Before Ryan could reply to this, Casey was fast asleep. Ryan and Carter looked at each other for a moment before they sighed._

"_He's a nice guy," Carter said quietly so that he did not to wake Casey. "I could grow to like him."_

"_Everybody else seems to like him as well," Ryan replied. "Except my father."_

"_I heard about that," Carter said grimly. "I think that Casey has a healthy dislike of authority figures."_

"_No, my father pulled rank on him. He has a healthy dislike of authority figures who pull rank," Ryan disagreed. "He had no problems with you or Miss Rawlings."_

_Carter nodded at this. _

"_He's got a lot of secrets, though," Ryan continued grimly. _

"_If he learns to trust us, he might tell us about some of them," Carter said calmly. "Until then, we have to trust that Casey isn't talking about his past, and its secrets, for a good reason."_

"_I do," Ryan assured. "He doesn't strike me as a guy that lies without reason."_

"_I feel the same," Carter assured. "But I don't know him as well as you do now."_

"_We're going to have to help him recover," Ryan said grimly. "By Dana's description of his injuries, it's going to take him some time to recover fully and, even then, he's going to need a sparring partner to get back to full strength."_

"_You'll need to get in line," he said with a grin. "I'll be sparing with him first when he is well enough."_

_Ryan laughed at this as Carter sighed._

"_I had better go see Captain Mitchell," he said grimly. "Your father will probably be wanting a report by now."_

_Ryan nodded and Carter left. After considering his options, Ryan decided to stay by Casey's bedside again and settled into the nearby chair that he had been sleeping in for the past few days. Within a few minutes, he too was fast asleep._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, several days after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late afternoon, several minutes later**_

"_Sir," Carter said respectfully as he entered._

"_Carter," Captain Mitchell replied respectfully. "What have you found out about our enigmatic Mr Rhodes?"_

"_Not much sir," Carter replied calmly. "Other than he's trained in martial arts and apparently outshines Joel in the aerobatics chamber, that is."_

"_I see," Captain Mitchell said slowly. He took a few moments to absorb that information before he finally turned to Carter._

"_I want you and the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers to take as much time as you want to help Mr Rhodes to recover," he ordered. "You and Ryan, since Mr Rhodes seems to like my son a great deal, should take charge of this task."_

_Carter was surprised by this._

"_No offence intended, sir, but just why are you ordering this?" Carter asked._

"_I don't like enigmas," Captain Mitchell replied. "And we're only going to learn about our enigmatic Mr Rhodes when he recovers so the sooner he recovers fully, the better. You are dismissed."_

"_Yes, sir," Carter replied respectfully before he left._

Just who are you Casey Rhodes? _Captain Mitchell wondered as soon as Carter was gone. _And what are you hiding...


	5. Memories of Recovery Part 2: Secrets

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Memories of Recovery Part 2: Secrets

by Lauraac2110

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Medical Bay, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early morning**_

"_Well, Dana, what's your official evaluation?" Casey asked as soon as Dana had finished checking him over._

"_You are officially fit enough to walk around unaided," she declared with a smile. "Although you may still feel some slight discomfort for a few weeks."_

_She paused for a moment._

"_However," she continued. "You would have recovered sooner if it hadn't been for those relapses you had each time you slipped out of my Medical Bay and overexerted yourself."_

_Ryan, who was standing in the doorway, grinned at this._

"_Congratulations, Casey, for finally staying in the Medical Bay long enough to recover fully," he said innocently._

_Casey wasn't amused._

"_Oh, ha, ha, ha," he said in reply. "It's not funny that I don't like anything similar to a hospital, you know."_

_Ryan didn't reply to this as Carter entered._

"_Now that you're fighting fit, Captain Mitchell wants to see you, Casey," Carter said grimly. "He wants some answers."_

_Casey sighed at this as he slipped off the bed. He stood there silently for several moments so that he could consider what he was going to do._

"_All right, I'll go see him," he finally grumbled reluctantly. "I may as well get his intense grilling over with anyway."_

"_We'll come find you when you're done with him," Ryan promised._

_Casey nodded as he left the Medical Bay._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Captain Mitchell's Office, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-morning, some time later**_

"_Ah, Mr Rhodes, take a seat," Captain Mitchell said calmly as Casey entered his office. Casey reluctantly obeyed._

"_Now that you've recovered, you are going to have to answer a few questions," he continued. "Questions, of course, that we have all been wondering about since the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers found you on the beach."_

_Casey sighed._

"_First, where did you live before the Venjix invasion?" he asked._

_Casey knew that this question wasn't avoidable. He was going to have to answer it but, he knew that if he did, there were going to be a lot more questions asked of him about how he got here. Ocean Bluff, of course, was many miles away. After pondering his problem, Casey decided to be half-truthful in his answer._

"_I used to live in Ocean Bluff," Casey answered before he lied with, "But my friends and I were heading to Mariner Bay on the day of the Venjix invasion. We were halfway there by the beginning of the invasion."_

_This, of course, wasn't the truth. He and his friends had been heading for Corinth City on the day of the Venjix invasion but only after the invasion had actually begun. He didn't want Captain Mitchell to know this, though._

_Captain Mitchell scribbled this onto a form in front of him. _

"_Next, how old are you? When were you born? And what did you work as before the invasion?" he asked._

_Casey knew that if he divulged his birth-date and age that they would probably be able to use it to find out that he had been a Power Ranger which, considering the fact that he still didn't like or trust Captain Mitchell, he didn't want them to know so he decided that he had to avoid these questions partially. He decided, though, that he would, however, be truthful about his occupation._

"_My birth-date is a personal matter," he replied evasively. "So by extension I'm not going to tell you how old I am either. However, I used to work in a pizza parlour in Ocean Bluff."_

_Captain Mitchell grew somewhat furious at Casey's evasive answer. _

"_I need to know more than that," he demanded._

"_As I said, I worked in a pizza parlour and that's all you need to know," Casey replied simply with a shrug. He wasn't going to tell Captain Mitchell anything more than that even if he was pushed even further for his own sake. _

"_What about your unique skills in martial arts?" Captain Mitchell pointed out. "You couldn't have learned them working in a pizza parlour."_

_Casey, after considering this question carefully, decided to lie about how he had learned martial arts. He knew that, if he told Captain Mitchell anything about what happened at the Pai Zhua academy, he would make the Captain exceptionally suspicious so he decided not to mention it, the names of his Masters or RJ. Especially considering the fact that naming RJ would give the fact that he was a Power Ranger completely away due to the fact that RJ had been in contact with many other teams of Power Rangers over the years._

"_I learned them before I came to work in the pizza parlour," Casey sighed. "In my spare time, I often ran a club to teach people martial arts in Ocean Bluff to pay back my teachers for everything that they had taught me."_

"_Tell me about this club," Captain Mitchell demanded._

_This was one question that Casey wasn't going to answer at all. Thinking about his students caused Casey to descend into somewhat of a sorrowful mood. They were probably at the mercy of the Grinders at that moment and, in a strange way, Casey felt guilty because he had left them behind in Ocean Bluff whilst he and the other Jungle Fury Rangers attempted to flee to Corinth. He didn't want to talk about Pai Zhua at all if he could help it. _

"_No," Casey refused. "After all, it is probably in ruins now like everything else in Ocean Bluff."_

_He paused for a moment as memories of his friends instantly came to his mind. As he remembered the good times, his sorrowful mood intensified and he decided to also make sure that Captain Mitchell didn't ask him about them either._

"_And I don't want to talk about my friends or anything else that I've lost either," he continued. "I intend to keep my past firmly in the past."_

_Captain Mitchell was now livid at this. He didn't like secrets at all and was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of just who was Casey Rhodes as quickly as possible._

"_Mr Rhodes, you have to answer my question," he insisted firmly._

"_No, I don't," Casey replied calmly. "I don't trust you, Captain."_

"_Mr Rhodes, if you are not going to answer me, then I am afraid that I have no choice but to..." Captain Mitchell began._

_However, he never got to finish as Casey calmly got up and left without another word._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early afternoon, a while later**_

_As Casey was quietly eating his lunch in the corner of the canteen, he was so distracted that he didn't notice Ryan and Carter enter._

_Both of them had been searching everywhere for Casey and, now, they had finally found him. They instantly went over to his table and, after grabbing some chairs, sat down beside him._

"_So, how did it go?" Carter asked. Casey grimaced._

"_That bad, huh?" Ryan said simply. Casey nodded._

"_Your father and I don't get along very well at all," he replied. "I don't, and probably never will, trust him. He wants to know everything that he can about me and, unfortunately, I've got to keep my secrets well under wraps. I also don't want to talk about everything that I've lost either which doesn't help much at all."_

"_I speak for all of us Rangers when I say that we understand that secrets are necessary," Ryan said as he looked to Carter, who nodded in agreement with his statement, before he continued with, "We know that you'll tell us more when you come to trust us."_

"_If I can, that is," Casey sighed. "Even then, there are some things that I'll never be able to tell you."_

_At that moment, Angela Rawlings entered the canteen and instantly made her way over to their table._

"_Captain Mitchell wants to see all three of you in his office immediately," she said grimly._

_Ryan and Carter grumbled a little at this. After considering his options for a moment, Casey decided that he wasn't going to go._

"_I'm going to go find somewhere quiet," Casey declared._

"_But..." Angela Rawlings began in shock._

"_Captain Mitchell isn't my superior," Casey said calmly. "And I need to be alone right now."_

_Casey got up at that moment and left._

_Whilst Carter had a look of disapproval, Ryan secretly chuckled inwardly to himself. _

_His father often expected everyone to obey him without question and he wasn't going to like the fact that Casey was being openly disobedient towards him. However, Casey did have a point. Captain Mitchell wasn't his superior._

_He was, however, both Carter and Ryan's superior so they didn't have the same luxury as Casey did._

_With a sigh, both Ryan and Carter got up._

"_We had better go find out what my father wants," Ryan said simply. Carter nodded and they both left with Miss Rawlings, who was still recovering from her shock, following behind them._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Captain Mitchell's Office, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-afternoon, several minutes later**_

_Although Captain Mitchell was furious with Casey for not showing up, he didn't show it. Instead, he told Carter and Ryan what little information he knew about Casey from what Casey had told him that morning._

"_By the sounds of things, he is being deliberately vague," Carter offered after they had heard what Casey had said._

"_He doesn't want us to find out his secrets, that's why," Ryan said calmly. "If he gave us enough information, he knows fine well that we would be able to use what information he has given us to find out everything else about him."_

"_I don't like him," Captain Mitchell said simply._

"_The feeling's mutual, father," Ryan continued. "You're pushing him for secrets that he can't divulge for one reason or another. Unlike you, I know that trust has to be established first. Besides, I'm not going to push Casey into telling us what he is hiding. I have hidden things in the past so I know what it feels like to be burdened with secrets and, on top of that, I know that there are some things that are secret for a reason."_

_Captain Mitchell didn't reply to this. Instead, he quietly considered his options for a moment._

"_Regardless, in the interests of security, I want you both to find out as much as you can about Mr Rhodes," Captain Mitchell continued. "And I want you to report anything useful back to me."_

"_Yes, sir," Carter replied respectfully._

_Ryan just nodded in reply._

"_You are both dismissed," Captain Mitchell commanded._

_They left at that moment. Inwardly, Ryan was furious at his father._

We need Casey to trust us! Having us spy on him will only push him further away! _Ryan thought. _I've grown fond of Casey and, so help me, I'm going to warn him about this regardless of the consequences.

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Training Gym, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-afternoon, some time later**_

"_You know, you're really good," Kelsey said as Casey blocked her most powerful blow easily enough. _

"_I'm slightly out of practice," Casey warned. "But I'm more than a match for you."_

"_We'll see," Kelsey replied as they continued to fight back and forth. Eventually, Casey managed to defeat her by tripping her up before he put his foot on her back to keep her down._

"_I win," Casey said simply as he took a deep breath before he removed his foot and helped Kelsey up. "Thanks for helping me release some frustration."_

"_Sure. I think that I'm going to have to start training harder now if I am going to have any chance of ever beating you," Kelsey replied. "You are really good."_

_At that moment, Ryan and Carter entered the gym._

"_Ah, Casey, there you are," Carter said with a grin. "Did you get beaten by Kelsey?"_

"_Actually it was the other way around," Kelsey admitted with embarrassment. "Casey beat me."_

_Ryan smiled as Carter couldn't believe it._

"_I told you that he would be good," Ryan said calmly._

"_If you want, I can face both of you in a duel as well," Casey offered._

_Carter nodded. "I'll go first," he offered._

_Ryan and Kelsey got out of the way as both Casey and Carter got into battle stances. Then, they began to circle as neither of them wanted to make the first move. Eventually, Carter charged at Casey._

_This was exactly what Casey wanted. At the very last moment, he stepped aside so that Carter would miss before he tripped him up and made sure that he wouldn't get back up._

_Ryan applauded whilst Kelsey stared, dumbstruck, that Carter had actually been beaten so quickly._

"_I guess that it's my turn," Ryan said grimly as Casey helped Carter up. "I warn you that I'm a more dangerous opponent than those two."_

"_And I am equally as dangerous," Casey warned. "I held back a lot against Kelsey and Carter."_

"_Then, you might actually be the worthy sparing partner that I've been waiting ages for," Ryan said with a grin as Carter got out of the way. Both Casey and Ryan then got into battle stances._

"_This is going to be really interesting," Kelsey said as both Casey and Ryan circled for a moment before they struck. The duel quickly became heated as Casey and Ryan fought back and forth, back and forth, whilst dodging each other's blows in intricate patterns. Of the two of them, Casey was clearly superior due to his fluid moves and skilful dodging but Ryan was giving him a hard time with his unpredictable demon-taught moves._

He fights like Jarrod. _Casey thought as he dodged yet another blow from Ryan. _He must have been evil once and, somehow, was turned back to the side of good. This is going to be a close duel.

Man, Casey is good. _Ryan thought as he had to leap back to avoid being hit by a string of blows. _Much better than Carter and Kelsey are anyway. This is going to be a close duel.

_They continued fighting for several more minutes before, finally, Ryan made a mistake which Casey didn't hesitate to exploit. He put too much force into his punch and Casey managed to dodge it before latching on to Ryan's wrist. Then, without hesitating, Casey calmly threw Ryan to the floor._

_Before Ryan could get back up, Casey put his foot at Ryan's neck as Kelsey and Carter applauded._

"_That was amazing," Kelsey exclaimed. Casey just sighed wearily in exhaustion before he removed his foot from Ryan's neck and left before they could ask him any questions._

_Ryan watched him go as he got back up onto his feet with a sigh._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early evening, a while later**_

_When Casey returned from wherever he had disappeared to that evening, he seemed quiet._

"_Casey, where did you go?" Dana asked curiously._

"_It doesn't matter," he replied. At that moment, several questions were directed to him but, fortunately, Ryan silenced everyone with a deadly glare which Casey was grateful for._

_They left him to eat his dinner in peace after that whilst they talked amongst themselves. Only Ryan was keeping an eye on Casey, though, and was concerned to notice that Casey seemed angry, exhausted and sorrowful at the same time._

_That wasn't good._

_When Casey finally got up and left once he was finished eating, Ryan instantly followed after him despite the fact that he hadn't finished his own dinner yet._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, several minutes later**_

_When Casey saw that Ryan was following him, he instantly snapped and the bottled up frustration and fury was unleashed._

"_Are you following me, Ryan?" Casey demanded. "Are you going to be reporting my every move to you father? And ask questions that I can't answer?" _

_Ryan flinched. However, he responded calmly as he knew that Casey was only behaving this way because he was upset._

"_I understand that you're upset and angry, Casey," Ryan replied coolly. "And I understand that you're keeping necessary secrets so I won't ask you anything that I don't think that you'll be able to answer from now on. What you are hiding is your own business not mine. My father doesn't seem to understand that."_

_Casey's expression softened considerably as he sighed._

"_I'm sorry, Ryan," he apologised. "I'm still trying to cope with my heavy losses."_

"_As I said, I understand," Ryan said calmly with a smile. "I've got a good way of distracting you, though."_

"_How?" Casey asked instantly._

"_Now that you're out of the Medical Bay, you're sharing a room with me," Ryan said with a grin. _

_Casey's expression brightened at this. Sharing a room with Ryan was considerably better than sharing a room with anyone else as Ryan wouldn't constantly bother him to divulge his secrets. _

"_That's good," Casey said simply._

"_Come on, I'll show you where it is," Ryan promised as he grabbed Casey's arm and led him away towards their room._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Casey/Ryan's Room, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, several minutes later again**_

"_It's not much," Ryan was saying as they entered. "But I like to think of it as a sanctuary regardless."_

_Casey took a look around. The room was quite small as Casey had been warned it would be but Casey didn't care. He had his own bed and, given the current circumstances, that was all that mattered._

"_I like it," Casey replied. "It's quite cosy."_

_Ryan nodded as he shut the door behind them and sat down on his bed. Casey did the same. For a few moments, both of them sat in uncomfortable silence before Ryan broke it._

"_Listen, Casey, I have to warn you that Captain Mitchell wanted Carter and I to report your every move and word to him," Ryan warned. "Since I like you, I'm going to try to disobey that order as much as I can. I won't tell my father anything that you tell me as far as I possibly can. However, I will have to tell him a few things here and there so that he doesn't have an excuse to reprimand me."_

_Casey sighed at this. "It was to be expected, I suppose," he said simply. "I'm not angry at you or Carter for having to do it just so you know."_

"_I'm sorry, Casey," Ryan apologised._

"_Don't be," he replied simply._

_They sat in uncomfortable silence for several more moments. This time, it was Casey who broke it._

"_What was your life like, Ryan?" Casey asked calmly._

_Ryan sighed. "Originally, not very good," he replied grimly. "You see..." _

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Casey/Ryan's Room, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late evening, some time later**_

_When Ryan finally finished his tale, he seemed exhausted._

"_I think that it is time for us to get some rest," he admitted as he lay down on his bed. Casey copied his gesture._

"_Ryan?" Casey said hesitantly as he turned over to face Ryan._

"_Yeah?" Ryan said as he turned in response._

"_When I've been disappearing to get some peace and quiet, I've been using the teleport system to go out onto the beach outside to think," Casey admitted. "I've borrowed one of the technicians portable remote controls."_

_Ryan didn't say anything in reply to this as Casey continued._

"_I've been taking all the necessary precautions and, on top of that, I haven't seen a Grinder once," Casey continued. "I'm sorry."_

_Ryan shook his head._

"_It's all right," Ryan reassured. "I won't be telling my father that you said that. Get some rest and, you never know, I might join you on that beach tomorrow. I'm in need of some peace and quiet myself."_

_Casey smiled at this as Ryan closed his eyes. Within minutes, he was asleep. _

_Several minutes later, Casey followed suit with a more peaceful expression upon his face due to the fact that he had once less secret to keep from Ryan although he would still have to keep it from everyone else._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Captain Mitchell's Office, several weeks after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late evening, at that very moment**_

_As Captain Mitchell sat there reviewing various report, he had only one person on his mind._

_Casey._

_He was still determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of who Casey Rhodes was as he despised devastating secrets._

Even if it is the last thing that I do, I will find out who you really are, Mr Rhodes. _Captain Mitchell silently vowed. _And what you are hiding...


	6. Memories of Friends: The Near Disaster

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Memories of Friends: The Near Disaster

by Lauraac2110

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early morning**_

"_... so we are all agreed?" Ryan asked as he and the other Rangers of the Lightspeed Aquabase sat together eating breakfast. The others nodded._

"_Yeah, all of us agree with you, Ryan," Carter answered on behalf of the others. "It would be the perfect way to show Casey how important he is to us. Despite his secrets."_

"_Captain Mitchell has been pushing him harder and harder for answers recently," Kelsey said grimly._

"_Which seems to be affecting him. I've noticed that Casey has been getting into those sorrowful moods more easily over the past few days," Dana added. "Even the slightest thing seems to be setting him off."_

"_I wish that he would tell us about what it is that's bothering him," Chad admitted. "Joel and I have tried to get him to open up about it but he refused."_

_Joel, who had just finished swallowing some of his breakfast, nodded in agreement with Chad's statement as Dana sighed._

"_Kelsey and I have tried consoling him but that doesn't seem to be working either," Dana admitted. Ryan just shook his head._

"_As Carter and I have found, the best thing that you could do for Casey when he gets in one of his sorrowful moods is to distract him," Ryan said calmly. "I believe that something from his past is bothering him. However, I suggest that we don't push him for answers until he freely wants to give us them."_

"_If we did push him, we would be no better than our father, Ryan," Dana agreed. "Who coincidentally still hasn't given up on finding out about the mysteries of Casey Rhodes."_

_Ryan just sighed at this. Silence then prevailed for several moments as all of them turned their thoughts to Captain Mitchell._

"_I believe that this will snap Casey out of his sorrowful moods for a while," Carter finally said to change the topic back to Casey and distract everyone. "And, if it doesn't, I am willing to forfeit my share of the sweet rations."_

"_You're on, Carter," Kelsey said with a grin._

"_All right, here's how we're going to do this," Ryan declared. "Carter and I will keep Casey busy whilst the rest of you can prepare the surprise."_

_There were several nods at this as, at that moment, Casey entered the canteen._

"_Heads up, Casey's coming," Joel warned quietly as Casey spotted them and made his way over to the table._

"_Good morning," he said politely. "So what are we doing today?"_

"_Unfortunately, I've got to prepare vaccines in the Medical Bay," Dana lied. "So I won't be joining you."_

"_And I've got to go on a solo diving mission to survey the waters around the Aquabase," Chad added. "So I won't be joining you either."_

"_And I've got to... help my wife in her lab today," Joel lied after a moment. "I won't be joining you either."_

"_Unfortunately, I've got kitchen duty today," Kelsey lied finally. "I won't be able to join you either."_

_Casey sighed and nodded. Fortunately for them, because he was so tired that morning, Casey didn't notice that they had actually lied to him otherwise he would have become exceptionally suspicious. Instead, he bought their lies as he fell silent for a moment. _

"_Carter? Ryan?" he asked hopefully after a few moments._

"_Don't worry, Casey," Ryan assured. "Carter and I are fine for today."_

"_In fact, we've even saved you some breakfast," Carter said quickly as he revealed the plate of uneaten toast that he had specifically saved for Casey. "Why don't you eat this on the way to the gym where we can spar this morning?"_

_He handed the plate to Casey and, before Casey could protest, both Ryan and Carter led him out of the canteen. As soon as the four remaining Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were sure that Casey was gone, they sighed in relief._

"_All right, here's what we'll do," Dana said quickly as she outlined the plan. "I..."_

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Training Gym, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-morning, some time later**_

"_All right, Casey, we surrender," Ryan said as he held up his hands in defeat whilst he and Carter lay on the floor breathing heavily after being defeated once again in their sparing session. _

_Casey smiled as Carter shook his head._

"_I don't know how you do it, Casey," Carter admitted. "No matter how hard any of us try, we can't seem to defeat you in combat. It is as if you know what moves we're going to pull before we pull them sometimes."_

_Casey frowned at this._

"_I think that I'm going to go have a shower," he said simply before he turned and left. _

"_Casey, wait for us!" Ryan exclaimed as he and Carter got up before chasing after him._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-morning, several minutes later**_

_As Casey, Ryan and Carter headed towards Casey and Ryan's room for a shower, none of them expected to run into Dana carrying a bag of flour and a bag of sugar. Casey was surprised._

"_Dana, I thought that you were preparing vaccines in the Medical Bay," Casey said suspiciously._

"_Er... yes I am. I need the sugar and flour to prepare the vaccines," she lied quickly which caused Casey to raise an eyebrow at her as he knew that she was lying. However, before he could ask her for the truth, she quickly added,"I've got to go, bye."_

_She fled at that moment. If Casey had been paying close attention, he would have noticed that she was heading towards the kitchens and not the Medical Bay. However, he wasn't paying close attention at all. _

_Instead, he was distracted by both Carter and Ryan hastily dragging him along the corridor to the room he shared with Ryan without explanation._

That was strange. _Casey thought. _Dana has never lied to me before. I wonder what she was hiding...

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Aerobatics Chamber, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late morning, some time later**_

"_Who was it that thought that using Joel's aerobatics chamber after taking a shower was a good idea again?" Carter asked as he groaned. "I'm suddenly not feeling so good."_

_As Casey did a flip nearby, Ryan smiled._

"_It was Casey's idea, Carter," Ryan replied. "It was either here or..."_

"_Going out to scout the perimeter today," Casey finished. "Personally, I'd rather be here."_

"_There is no harm in scouting the perimeter, Casey," Carter warned. "If we..."_

_He then went on to describe in detail the advantages of being well informed about the surroundings. Within a few seconds, Casey turned his attention to the window and the various personnel that were passing by._

_After a minute, Casey was shocked to see Joel pass by covered in hundreds of multi-coloured streamers. _

What the hell? _Casey thought._

"_Did you just see Joel covered in streamers?" he asked Ryan and Carter after taking a moment to overcome his shock._

_Inwardly, both Carter and Ryan started panicking. Ryan, though, was the first one to recover as a blank expression came over his face._

"_You must have been imagining things," Ryan lied quickly. "I didn't see Joel."_

"_Neither did I," Carter added._

_Casey instantly knew that they were both lying to him and grew suspicious._

All right, the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers appear to be up to something. _He thought. _Especially if Carter and Ryan are lying to me today.

_Casey paused for a moment before he decided not to confront them about lying to him just yet. He would wait and see what happened first in case they had a good reason for lying to him before he acted. After all, he didn't want Captain Mitchell to ever find out that Casey was an excellent lie detector otherwise he would have a problem._

"_Fine," Casey finally said simply. He watched with some amusement as Carter and Ryan let out sighs of relief because Casey appeared to have bought their lies. Now he knew that there was definitely something going on today._

"_Could you show us a few moves, Casey?" Carter asked. "I've always wanted to learn a few new things."_

_Casey nodded and then, after a moment, started to teach Carter and Ryan a few new moves._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early afternoon, some time later**_

_At lunch, Casey was surprised that it was just himself, Carter and Ryan. He had honestly expected the others to show up as well._

"_Where are they?" Casey wondered aloud._

_Ryan smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure that the others are probably busy with their important work today."_

"_Yeah, it's not the first time that they have missed lunch, you know," Carter added as they ate._

_Casey had to concede that Carter was right. All of them had missed meals before because of their work. However, this was the first time that there had been more than two people missing a meal at a time and Casey admitted that it felt strange._

_Sensing that Casey was about to descend into a sorrowful mood, Ryan quickly decided to distract them._

"_So, this afternoon, I think that we could..." Ryan began as he started to detail a plan for the afternoon._

_**In the waters around the Lightspeed Aquabase, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-afternoon, some time later**_

"_The water is actually comfortably warm for once," Casey commented as they leisurely swam around in the water outside the Aquabase in full diving gear. _

"_Yeah, it's a shame that it isn't like this all the time otherwise I would do this more often," Carter agreed. At that moment, Casey spotted someone swimming towards them._

"_Hey, having fun?" Chad greeted as he reached them._

"_What are you doing out here, Chad?" Casey asked bluntly._

"_Don't you remember? Captain Mitchell asked me to survey the waters around the Aquabase," Chad lied. "I've been searching through the ruins of the old Aquabase as well."_

Liar. _Casey thought simply as he knew instantly that Chad was lying to him._

"_Oh," Casey said simply as he noticed that Chad had a small soaking velvet pouch tied to his belt. He didn't, however, draw attention to the fact that he had noticed this. _

Ok, Chad obviously went and fetched that pouch. But why? _Casey thought silently. _Just what are they hiding?

"_Anyway, I need to get back. Captain Mitchell will be wanting my report," Chad lied. Carter and Ryan nodded before Chad left them without saying another word._

"_Perhaps we should head back as well," Casey suggested after they passed a large amount of time just swimming around and taking in the nearby wildlife. "I would like to have another sparring session before dinner, I think."_

_Carter grinned. _

"_Why not?" he agreed with a shrug. "Maybe we will finally get a chance to beat you."_

"_Keep dreaming, Carter," Casey replied calmly. _

"_Last one back has to face Casey first," Carter added as he and Casey set off quickly. Ryan watched with a smirk on his face._

_That smirk, however, was quickly wiped off his face when he noticed that they had a problem. Casey and Carter just so happened to be heading towards the glass window of his and Casey's room where Kelsey just so happened to be preparing for their surprise at that moment._

_As quickly as possible, Ryan swam to catch up with them and, once he did, he quickly distracted Casey from the window by yelling that his oxygen tank was almost empty to conceal Kelsey's work._

_In a blind panic at this information, Casey rapidly swam back into the Aquabase as Ryan sighed in relief._

"_That was too close," he breathed. Carter was laughing helplessly._

"_Casey is going to kill you for tricking him, Ryan," Carter warned after he finally managed to compose himself. _

"_Better that we tricked him than he found out about the surprise," Ryan replied as he pointed to the window to his room. Inside, Kelsey continued to work oblivious to the fact that they were watching her. Carter turned pale._

"_I suppose," Carter agreed._

_Both of them were silent for a moment before Ryan finally spoke again._

"_Come on, we had better go back in after Casey," he said grimly. "We don't want him to come back out here after us."_

"_Agreed," Carter said as they both swam after Casey back into the Aquabase._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Submarine Bay, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-afternoon, several minutes later**_

_When both of them returned, Casey was waiting for them. He was dripping wet and, by his cold expression, not amused._

"_That was a cruel trick," he accused._

"_I'm sure, my friend, that you will easily be able to get revenge sparring against us," Ryan said smoothly. Carter groaned as a mischievous grin spread across Casey's face._

"_Perhaps I might," he agreed._

_Carter groaned again. _

We're both going to regret you suggesting that very soon, Ryan. _Carter thought. _Especially considering the fact that Casey can be exceptionally brutal when he wants to be against us...

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Training Gym, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, late afternoon, some time later**_

_As both Carter and Ryan lay on the floor groaning, Casey had a small smile on his face._

"_Give in?" he asked._

"_Definitely. I'm sorry for tricking you," Ryan apologised. "And I'll never suggest using sparring sessions as a means of revenge again. I regret ever suggesting it."_

_Casey helped both of them up._

"_Perhaps, now that I've beaten you both so soundly once again, we should go to the canteen for dinner," Casey suggested. "I must admit that I'm suddenly rather hungry after all the things we have done today."_

"_So am I," Carter agreed. "Let's go."_

_All three of them left the Training Gym together to head for the Canteen as soon as he was finished speaking._

Hopefully, the others will be at dinner. _Casey thought as they walked. _It is going to be dreadfully boring if they aren't...

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, early evening, some time later**_

_As the three of them ate dinner together in the Canteen, Casey finally spoke up to banish the silence that had descended upon them as soon as they had started eating their dinners._

"_Just where are they?" Casey burst out. "They can't be that busy with their work to miss dinner as well."_

"_If they were able to come, I'm sure that they would be here so whatever they are doing has to be pretty important," Carter replied._

_Behind Casey at that moment, Dana came out of the kitchens carrying a large cake. Ryan saw her and instantly acted to make sure that she could sneak it out of the kitchens without Casey noticing._

_In a clumsy manner, Ryan dropped his fork upon Casey's foot. Casey instantly flinched and instantly went under the table to retrieve it. As Casey was distracted, Dana slipped out of the canteen with a relieved smile on her face whilst mouthing thanks to her brother for distracting Casey._

"_Couldn't you be more careful?" Casey complained as he came back from under the table with Ryan's fork in hand._

"_I'm sorry, Casey," Ryan apologised as Ryan took the fork back. "It just slipped."_

_At that moment, Carter finished his dinner and stood up._

"_I sort of agree with you Casey, about the others missing their meal, so I'll go see if I can find them for you," Carter lied._

_Without another word, Carter got up and left._

"_I'll be back in a minute. I just need to go get myself another fork," Ryan said as he made his way to the kitchen. Casey, all alone at their table, sighed._

Now Carter's lied again to me. _Casey thought as he sat there. _Just what are they hiding from me?

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, some time later**_

"_Do you know what, I think that I'm going to go get some rest early tonight," Casey finally said once they were finished. "It's clear that Carter isn't coming back any time soon."_

"_If that's what you want," Ryan said with a shrug as they both rose from the table. "Getting some early sleep sounds good to me too."_

_They left the canteen at that moment and Ryan, following behind Casey, barely concealed a grin._

I can't wait to see the look upon Casey's face when he sees what we've been planning for him. _Ryan thought as they walked. _It is definitely going to be priceless...

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Casey/Ryan's Room, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, mid-evening, several minutes later**_

"_Surprise!" the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers exclaimed as Casey and Ryan entered their room. Casey was stunned at the sight._

_Strewn across the room were streamers of various different colours. A banner saying "Surprise, Casey!" hung from the wall and a massive cake sat on a platter upon Ryan's bed. The five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were even wearing party hats._

_Casey just couldn't believe it. This was a surprise party. For him. _

_Since he had lost his friends to the Venjix invasion, Casey had never expected to ever attend such a party again especially here of all places. Yet, here he was. And they had, Casey reluctantly admitted, managed to slip it past him._

_Of course, he had known that they were up to something that day. He had never guessed that they were preparing for a surprise party in his wildest dreams. Especially because of how secretive he was around them._

_After several minutes, Casey finally spoke after he recovered from the shock._

"_I can't believe that you would do such a thing for me, guys," Casey said quietly. "You don't even..."_

"_Casey," Ryan said firmly in interruption. "You are our friend. We know that whatever secrets you are keeping must be important ones so we don't care about them as we know that you'll tell us about them when you're ready."_

"_Besides, we felt that you needed a bit of cheering up," Kelsey chipped in. "You have been quite sorrowful and slightly distant at times lately."_

_Casey sighed at this as Chad produced a small package._

"_This is for you, Casey, from all of us," Chad explained. "As a token of our friendship."_

_Casey gently took the package and unwrapped it to reveal a simplistic trinket. On a silver chain, a tiger's eye stone in the shape of a tiger rested. Casey was stunned._

Just how did they know? _He wondered silently. Before he could ask, though, Chad spoke up._

"_Miss Rawlings and I felt like a Tiger would be appropriate for you," Chad explained. "It fits your personality and actions completely."_

_Casey smiled at this. _

If only you knew how accurate that statement is, Chad. _Casey thought silently._

"_Anyway, if you're wondering how we made this, Miss Rawlings used a high powered laser to shape the stone into an appropriate form. Then, she provided the silver chain to hang the stone on for us," Chad continued. _

"_So you were all..." Casey began._

_Joel nodded._

"_Yes, we were all preparing for this party today," he confirmed. "Although I do believe that all of us nearly gave the surprise away at some point."_

"_Kelsey didn't," Casey admitted._

"_Kelsey nearly did," Ryan countered. "If I hadn't played that trick on you, you would have seen the preparations going on in here from the window."_

"_I see," Casey said simply. "I think that I can forgive you for that now that I know why you did it."_

_Ryan grinned. A warm feeling bloomed in Casey at that moment._

Even though the Jungle Fury Rangers aren't here, I've got Ryan and the others as my friends to look out for me. _Casey realised. _I just didn't really realise it until now...

_At that moment, Casey was snapped out of his thoughts by Ryan who grinned._

"_Is everything all right, Casey?" he asked._

"_It is now," Casey answered simply as the party started._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Casey/Ryan's Room, a year and a half after the fateful day of the Venjix invasion two years ago, very late in the evening, some time later**_

"_I'm exhausted," Ryan admitted as he and Casey lay on their beds once the party had finished and they had finally cleaned up after themselves. "The last party I was at was a long, long time ago. I didn't realise how much I missed them until now."_

"_Same here," Casey agreed._

_Silence prevailed for several moments before Casey spoke again._

"_Ryan?" he said hesitantly._

_Ryan looked up. "Yeah?"_

"_Thanks for the best party that I've ever been at for a while," Casey said. _

_Ryan grinned. "You're welcome. Goodnight Casey," he yawned._

"_Goodnight, Ryan," he said simply as they both closed their eyes. Several minutes later, they were both fast asleep._


	7. Interlude Memories: News of Both Kinds

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Interlude Memories: News of Both Kinds

by Lauraac2110

_**Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, several days after the fateful Accident, mid-evening**_

_Casey stood there on the beach, looking out at the stars, as he thought about all of his friends. He knew that he had been lucky to escape from the Grinders that day two years ago but he wondered if his friends had shared his luck. Then, he sighed again._

_Over the course of two years he had made new friends here but they would never hold the same place in his heart as the other Jungle Fury Rangers. For Casey, being around his new friends just wasn't the same as being around his old ones. He paused for another moment as he heard the approaching footsteps. Then, he turned._

"_What are you doing here?" he asked._

"_You've got to come quickly, Casey," Ryan replied. "My father has news."_

_Casey sighed. "I'll be along in a minute. I just need another few moments up here."_

"_It's important, Casey. He'll be angry if you don't turn up again," Ryan warned._

"_All right, I'm coming," Casey exclaimed as he gave in. He sighed._

Sometimes, I can never get a moment of peace here. It's at times like this that I wish that I hadn't been rescued from the Grinders._ Casey thought as he followed his friend back inside._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, several days after the fateful Accident, late evening, some time later**_

_As Casey and Ryan entered the Command Centre, they instantly went over to where the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were standing and joined them._

"_I'm glad that you've chosen to show up this time, Mr Rhodes," Captain Mitchell said with a sigh as he turned to them. "I didn't think that you would."_

"_Ryan convinced me otherwise," Casey replied simply. Captain Mitchell didn't say anything in reply to this._

"_Sir, if I may ask, what news have you received?" Carter asked quickly to prevent things from getting out of hand between them._

"_I have it on good authority that Venjix has been destroyed," Captain Mitchell replied calmly. There was a long moment of shock before everyone except Casey started cheering and dancing in excitement. They had waited a long time for this news as it meant that the war against Venjix's forces was over._

_Casey, however, knew that a new war against evil was only just beginning._

"_Casey, why aren't you excited?" Dana asked as soon as she saw the grim expression on his face._

"_Things are far from over," Casey replied quietly as he looked to Captain Mitchell. "Isn't that right?"_

_Captain Mitchell sighed as everyone looked to him. He could tell by the look in their eyes that they were silently pleading with him not to confirm that Casey was right. Unfortunately, though, Captain Mitchell had no choice._

"_I am afraid so," he said simply. "There's more news."_

"_Father?" Ryan asked in puzzlement._

"_Firstly, the Grinders haven't been destroyed," he said grimly after a moment of silence. "Although the factories which made the Grinders have been shut down because of Venjix's destruction, there are still thousands of Grinders roaming the land."_

"_No surprise there," Casey muttered._

"_Secondly," Captain Mitchell continued as he glared at Casey. "Batlings have also been spotted in the desert over the last few days. And all of you know that this can only mean one thing."_

_A stunned silence descended over the Command Centre for several moments before Casey decided to speak up._

"_Bansheera and all of her minions are back," he said simply._

"_But that's impossible!" Kelsey burst out. "We destroyed her."_

"_And there's no way that she could have escaped her destruction," Joel added. "There is no way that she is powerful enough to return."_

"_Don't underestimate Bansheera's power," Ryan warned. "She is more powerful than you'll ever believe even though she doesn't often use her full power."_

_Silence descended over the entire Command Centre for several moments. The Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and Ryan had looks of nervousness and worry upon their faces. Most of the staff in the Command Centre shared their looks._

_It was only Casey who had a look of grim acceptance on his face. Bansheera didn't worry him at all._

Let her come._ Casey thought simply. _I've faced Dai Shi. I'm ready to face her.

"_So, if Bansheera is back..." Dana began._

"_She is back," Ryan interrupted grimly. "The Batlings will only obey her or her minions."_

"_Fine. So, since Bansheera is back, what do you think that means for us?" she asked._

"_Trouble," Casey replied calmly. "As soon as she finds out that all of you are alive, she will pursue revenge against you because you stopped her from ruling the world. She won't stop until you either destroy her or she destroys you."_

"_And you are so sure of this because?" Kelsey asked._

"_What would you do if you were in her situation, Kelsey?" Chad retorted. _

_Kelsey blinked and nodded. "Oh, I see."_

_Silence descended over the Command Centre for several more moments before Captain Mitchell spoke again._

"_I need all of you to keep quiet about Bansheera's return for now," he finally declared. "If the Aquabase personnel found out about this, I'm sure that morale would hit an all time low."_

"_We'll keep quiet, sir," Carter promised as he looked to everyone for agreement. Everyone nodded at his statement._

_Captain Mitchell sighed. "You are all dismissed."_

"_Sir," Carter replied respectfully as they left the Command Centre. Captain Mitchell watched them go with a sigh._

It has begun yet again... _he thought simply._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Casey/Ryan's Room, several days after the fateful Accident, late evening, several minutes later**_

_Ryan was unusually subdued as he lay there on his bed. Nearby, Casey lay on the other one and was watching him with a sorrowful expression upon his face as he could tell that something was bothering the Titanium Ranger._

"_Ryan, do you want to talk about it?" Casey asked quietly._

_Ryan sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. "It's Bansheera's return. With Bansheera back, I'm almost certain Diabolico is as well."_

"_Isn't he the one that..." Casey began._

"_Kidnapped me, raised me and brainwashed me?" Ryan said with a bitter laugh. "Yeah."_

"_You don't think that you can face him, do you?" Casey guessed. Ryan shook his head._

"_No, it's not that," Ryan replied grimly. "I'm just going to find facing him again especially difficult."_

"_You're not going to be facing him alone, Ryan," Casey assured. "The other Rangers are going to be there at your side when you do eventually face him. And, if they're not, I'll be there for you."_

_Ryan smiled. "That's a nice thought. I doubt that you'll ever be at my side, though."_

"_Why?" Casey asked._

"_Bansheera and her minions are exceptionally powerful," he replied grimly. "No offence, Casey, but only Rangers can survive their most powerful attacks. You would be risking your life to stand by me."_

_For a moment, Casey wanted to retort that he was a Ranger too before he bit his tongue. He couldn't tell Ryan the truth otherwise Captain Mitchell would find out. Then, Casey would be in a lot of trouble._

_With a small growl of frustration, Casey turned over and faced away from Ryan._

"_Casey, did I upset you?" Ryan asked._

_Casey sighed. "No, Ryan, you didn't."_

"_Do you want to talk about it?" Ryan retorted with a grin._

"_No, thanks," he replied. "Goodnight, Ryan."_

_Ryan sighed. "Goodnight, Casey," he replied._

_They both lay in silence for a while after that until Casey was sure that Ryan was asleep. He then sat up as a small tear dripped down his face. _

_Casey's thoughts returned back to his friends at that moment. He wondered where they were, what they were doing and, most importantly, whether or not they were still alive. He hoped they were, though, like all the other times that he had thought about them. Sure, his new friends were good but they weren't the same as his old ones._

_The Jungle Fury Rangers._

_Turmoil blossomed within Casey at that moment. If Bansheera ever attacked, he wouldn't be able to help his new friends in battle without revealing that he was a Ranger to Captain Mitchell and he certainly didn't want that._

_However, he didn't want his friends to get hurt or, worse, die if he could prevent it. _

_A feeling of helplessness descended over Casey at that moment as he lay back down again. He wanted to help them but he knew that he just couldn't. Not right now, anyway._

_At that moment, Casey wished that RJ was there with him. RJ would know what the right thing to do now was. _

Except._ Casey painfully reminded himself. _RJ isn't here.

_Exhaustion swept over him at that moment and, within minutes, Casey welcomed the grateful numbness of sleep so that he could forget about his problems until the next day when he would be able to think them over more easily without weariness clouding his thoughts._

_**Somewhere in the Ruins of Mariner Bay, Skull Caverns, Throne Room, several days after the fateful Accident, late evening, at that very moment**_

_In the eerie throne room of the Queen of the Demons, Bansheera was sitting on her throne whilst calmly contemplating her future plans._

"_Mother," Olympius said as he entered. "I have some news."_

_Bansheera looked up. "Speak, my son."_

"_The Batlings have spotted various humans spying on them over the past few days. We believe that the Lightspeed Aquabase is still here somewhere although we can't quite work out where," Olympius replied. "Getting in will also be difficult considering that it is completely submerged still."_

_Bansheera growled._

"_We'll have revenge on them, my son," she vowed. "By the time that we're done with them, the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and the Titanium Ranger are going to regret ever opposing us."_

"_I look forward to that day," Olympius agreed. _

"_Have Jinxer scout the area," she commanded. "I want their emergency entrance located immediately."_

_Olympius nodded and left._

Soon, Lightspeed Rescue Rangers, I will have my full revenge. _She vowed._

_**Somewhere in the Ruins of Mariner Bay, Skull Caverns, Crypts, several days after the fateful Accident, late evening, also at that very moment**_

_As soon as Loki, Vypra and Diabolico had made sure that they hadn't been followed, Diabolico began their meeting._

"_Do you all remember how Queen Bansheera betrayed us?" he asked. Vypra and Loki hissed. Then, they nodded._

"_Of course, how could we forget," Vypra replied._

"_She had you destroy me, the Rangers destroy you and she absorbed Vypra into her form," Loki replied with a snarl. "I'm never going to trust her again."_

"_Neither am I," Vypra added with distaste._

"_Don't worry. I'm not going to trust her either," Diabolico assured. "I believe, though, that there is only one way that we can play this."_

"_Oh?" Vypra and Loki replied curiously._

"_We'll continue to pretend that we have no memories of her betrayal," Diabolico continued. "And we'll also continue to pretend to be loyal to her..."_

"_But..." Loki began._

"_Hear me out," Diabolico snapped. "I'm not finished."_

_Loki nodded and fell silent._

"_As I was saying, we will continue to pretend to be loyal to her until a chance to overthrow Bansheera comes. Then, we'll strike to overthrow her," Diabolico continued from where he left off before he was interrupted._

"_I have one question," Vypra said finally after several moments of silence. "Just how are we going to keep the fact that we're not loyal to her from Bansheera?"_

"_Well..." Diabolico began._

_At that moment, they heard someone approaching and Loki hushed Diabolico._

"_So, this is where you are all hiding," Jinxer said with distaste as he entered their group. _

"_What can we do for you, Jinxer?" Diabolico asked with false politeness oozing from his tone of voice._

"_Bansheera wishes you to scout the area and find the emergency entrance to the Lightspeed Aquabase," Jinxer lied. "You are then to report its location back to me immediately and I'll report it to Bansheera."_

"_I assume that we're supposed to take the Batlings?" Vypra asked. Jinxer nodded._

"_Yes," he replied. "Now, get to it."_

"_Yes, Jinxer," the three demons replied before Jinxer left._

That lazy liar..._ Diabolico thought as he left after him with Loki and Vypra at his side._ Getting us to do his dirty work for him. I'll show him. I swear that I'll destroy him myself if the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers don't dispose of him first.


	8. Chapter 1: Demonic Warnings

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Chapter 1: Demonic Warnings

by Lauraac2110

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, current day, early morning_

Breakfast was a subdued affair with a tense atmosphere in the canteen for both Casey and Ryan due to the fact that no one was laughing, or smiling, like they normally did. Since the revelation from Captain Mitchell that Bansheera and her minions were back, everything in the Aquabase had changed dramatically.

"Everyone seems really tense," Ryan commented as they ate.

"Despite Captain Mitchell's attempts to keep the news about Bansheera being back quiet, the personnel know about her return," Casey said quietly. "I've heard them talking about it in hushed whispers in the corridors. Everyone is afraid, with good reason, of what is about to come given the destruction Bansheera caused last time."

Ryan sighed at this.

"It was to be expected, I suppose," he said grimly. Casey nodded in agreement with this.

They continued to eat in silence for several more moments before Ryan dropped his cutlery.

"I can't eat any more. Do you want to go to the Training Gym to spar?" Ryan asked Casey. Casey nodded and, once he had finished the last of his breakfast, they both left the canteen.

_Somewhere in the Ruins of Mariner Bay, Skull Caverns, Throne Room, early morning, at that very moment_

As Jinxer entered into the throne room, both Bansheera and Prince Olympius stopped conversing and turned to the demon.

"Well?" Bansheera demanded.

"My Queen, we have been unable to locate the emergency entrance to the Aquabase," Jinxer reported with a bow.

A furious expression came over Bansheera's features for several moments as she contemplated their next move whilst Jinxer waited anxiously for orders. Finally, she spoke.

"It seems that a change of tactics are in order. Take the Batlings and cause some havoc, Jinxer," she angrily commanded.

"Might I ask what that will accomplish, my Queen?" Jinxer asked.

"We will be able to find the emergency entrance into the Aquabase if we force the Rangers out to confront us," she explained. "If you were to toss boulders into the sea, for example, they would have to come out to fight us or their Aquabase would be destroyed."

"An excellent plan, mother," Olympius grinned maliciously.

"Prince Olympius is right, my Queen, it is an excellent plan indeed," Jinxer agreed.

"Then why are you standing here? Get to work!" she exclaimed furiously. Jinxer hastily turned to leave at that moment.

_Diabolico, Vypra and Loki will easily be able to carry this out on my behalf, I think, since I don't want to risk my neck against those Rangers. _Jinxer thought as he strode out of the throne room. _The best part of this is that I'll get to take all the credit without doing any of the work!_

_Somewhere in the Ruins of Mariner Bay, Skull Caverns, Crypts, early morning, several minutes later_

"Good morning, Jinxer, what can we lowly demons do for you this morning?" Diabolico greeted as Jinxer entered the crypts.

"Queen Bansheera requires you to take the Batlings and cause some havoc," Jinxer replied. "Her plan is to have the Batlings toss boulders into the sea, hopefully hitting the Aquabase in the process, to force the Rangers to come out and fight us. From there, you are to locate the emergency entrance to the Aquabase for her using whatever means necessary."

"We shall get on to it right away, Jinxer," Vypra assured as she and Loki revealed themselves.

"You will then report to me with the location of the emergency entrance when you are done," Jinxer stated firmly. "And see to it that you do not fail or your punishment will be most severe."

Jinxer confidently strode away and, once they were sure that he was gone, the three demons sighed.

"Well, we may as well get to work," Diabolico said grimly with a shrug as he went off to collect the Batlings.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Training Gym, mid-morning, some time later_

"You've improved a great deal over the past two years, Ryan," Casey said with a smile as he dodged one of Ryan's punches. "It's getting harder and harder every time I face you to actually beat you without seriously hurting you."

"I still haven't managed to beat you yet, though," Ryan said as Casey launched a flurry of blows that Ryan barely managed to dodge.

"That's because you have _not _been trained the same way that I have," Casey replied as he tripped Ryan up before using his foot to keep Ryan down. "I was trained to be able to continuously adapt to different situations. I was trained to use hundreds of different moves instinctively. You were not."

"The training to get to my level was so intense that I can assure you that you would _not _want to go through it," Casey then sighed before he closed his eyes as a painful memory of his old friends, the Jungle Fury Rangers, came to him during their days training in RJ's loft.

"Casey, are you all right?" Ryan asked in concern. Casey blinked before he smiled sadly again.

"I'm fine," he replied simply as he helped Ryan up.

At that moment, there was a loud bang as the entire Aquabase creaked and shuddered. Within a few seconds, the emergency alarms started blaring endlessly as Ryan paled slightly.

"It has started," Casey said grimly. "Captain Mitchell will be requiring your services, Ryan, so we had better not keep him waiting."

Ryan nodded before both of them rushed out of the room.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, mid-morning, several minutes later_

As Casey and Ryan entered the Command Centre, they were met by the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers.

"Sir?" Carter said hesitantly as Captain Mitchell turned to them.

"We have a major problem," Captain Mitchell said grimly. "Diabolico, Vypra and Loki are out on the beach with a horde of Batlings which are tossing boulders into the sea. One just hit the Aquabase, causing minor damage, but if this keeps up the Aquabase could be destroyed."

"You need us to go deal with them, then?" Ryan said grimly. Captain Mitchell nodded.

"Yes," he said firmly. "I do."

The six Rangers conferred for a moment before Carter sighed.

"We'll do it, sir," he assured.

The five Lightspeed Rangers left at that moment but, before Ryan could go, Casey stopped him.

"I'm coming with you," Casey said with a grim expression upon his face. "You're going to need all the help you can get out there."

"No, Mr Rhodes," Captain Mitchell said firmly. "You are not a Ranger so you wouldn't stand a chance against Bansheera's forces."

"But..." Casey began.

"My father is right," Ryan agreed. "It wouldn't be safe for you out there as you are not a Ranger. Stay here, Casey."

With that, Ryan left as Casey growled softly in frustration.

_If I didn't have to keep the fact that I'm a Ranger a secret, I wouldn't be stuck on the sidelines helplessly watching whilst my friends battle demons. _He thought as he turned back to face the screen so that he could watch the battle. _Damn Captain Mitchell for not being trustworthy..._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, mid-morning, several minutes later again _

As the Batlings tossed boulders into the sea, Diabolico, Vypra and Loki watched with some amusement as they waited for the Rangers to show up.

"We always seem to end up carrying out Jinxer's dirty work whilst he takes all the credit for what we do," Vypra commented.

"It's not that bad, Vypra," Loki said with a grin. "At least, for once, everything seems to be going to plan."

"Not any longer, Loki," Carter said as the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and the Titanium Ranger showed up.

Diabolico smiled. Everything was going _exactly _to plan.

"Greetings, Rangers," he said. "Why you've certainly changed a great deal over the last ten years from what I can see."

"We've been expecting you," Vypra added.

"Go back to Bansheera, Diabolico," Carter said coldly. "And take Loki and Vypra with you before we destroy you like we did before."

Diabolico laughed at this.

"Threats didn't work last time. What makes you think that we'll listen to them this time?" he demanded before he took on a serious expression. "Besides, we're not going anywhere until we've gotten what we've came for."

The Rangers were puzzled by this but, before they could ask what the demons were after, Diabolico commanded the Batlings to attack.

"Split up!" Carter commanded. "But don't let too many of the Batlings surround you!"

The other Rangers nodded and, after splitting up, they took on the Batlings.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, late morning, at that very moment_

As they watched the Rangers battling the Batlings on the screen, most of the occupants of the Command Centre were rather nervous. And _very _worried.

The battle going on outside was very heated but, fortunately, Diabolico, Loki and Vypra had yet to enter it. The Rangers were confidently holding their own, although everyone could see that they were a little rusty in battle, as they slowly but surely decimated the ranks of the Batlings.

Captain Mitchell and Angela Rawlings were pacing endlessly up and down pondering the fact that something seemed _very _wrong despite the fact that everything seemed to be going well.

"This is too perfect and suspicious," Miss Rawlings said finally after a moment.

"It feels like this was set up to draw us out," Captain Mitchell agreed. "They attacked the Aquabase directly knowing that it would draw us out to fight them. They also do not appear too concerned that they could lose this battle either."

"I agree," she said as she stopped pacing before she wondered aloud. "Just what are they after? What do they gain from fighting us?"

Captain Mitchell grimaced at this.

"I have absolutely no idea," he admitted. "However, regardless of what it is exactly that they're after, we know that it has to be something that will benefit Bansheera greatly so we've got to stop them from getting their hands upon it."

She nodded in agreement at this as they both turned their attention back to the screen to watch the battle. Behind them, Casey was shifting uncomfortably as he watched Ryan take a particularly painful blow.

He desperately wished that he could be fighting at his friends' side at that moment even though he knew that he couldn't risk revealing himself because he couldn't trust Captain Mitchell at all.

He growled softly once more as the internal conflict within him raged on.

_Damn it... _he thought in frustration.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, late morning, several minutes later_

When the last of the Batlings fell, the three demons joined the fray.

"Morph, now!" Carter yelled as he dodged a pretty powerful blow from Diabolico.

"Lightspeed, Rescue!" the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers called as they activated their Rescue Morphers.

"Titanium Power!" Ryan called as he activated his Titanium Morpher whilst dodging a powerful blow from Diabolico.

They morphed.

"Joel, Chad, take Loki," Carter commanded. "Dana, Kelsey, take Vypra. Ryan, you and I will take Diabolico."

The Rangers split at that moment to draw their targets into battle away from the others. Loki, being quick and agile, was quite a challenge for Joel and Chad as they dodged and ducked blows whilst trying to counter with their own moves.

"You'll never beat me!" Loki exclaimed defiantly.

"We'll see," Chad countered as he ducked to avoid another blow.

"Yeah!" Joel exclaimed. "You're slower than you used to be, Loki."

Joel had to dodge a well aimed kick for that comment but smiled as it had the desired effect. Loki appeared to be enraged which would make beating him much easier for Joel and Chad now.

Dana and Kelsey were having better luck nearby where they were working together against Vypra. This forced her to work especially hard to avoid being beaten by them as both sides dodged and dealt blows.

"You're good," Vypra conceded as she was thrown back by a well aimed punch to the shoulder. "However, you're both not good enough to defeat me."

"We'll see," Dana replied as they continued to exchange blows.

Nearby, Carter and Ryan were having a much harder time against Diabolico. Both of them were struggling because Diabolico appeared to have regained his Star Power although they were managing to hold their own. Ryan was using his battle axe to block Diabolico's blows whilst Carter was using his V-Lancer to keep Diabolico off balance.

"You have both improved greatly since we last met," Diabolico admitted after a moment. "It won't be enough to beat me this time, though, Rangers."

"We'll see," Ryan countered as he launched into a tirade of blows using moves that he had learned from Casey which resulted in Diabolico being thrown backwards onto the ground since he couldn't counter them. The same thing quickly happened to Vypra and Loki who landed in a heap next to Diabolico as the Rangers regrouped.

"You've had an excellent teacher," Diabolico conceded as he, Loki and Vypra got to their feet. "Someone from one the ancient orders if your moves are anything to go by since it has been a long time since I've battled anyone who used moves like _that._"

He paused for a moment before to glance at his surroundings.

"Next time we meet, you will _not _be saved from destruction. Mark my words," he warned.

A rapid whirlwind of sand was kicked up by Vypra and Loki at that moment and, when it subsided, the demons were gone.

Carter sighed as they powered down.

"It appears that they've fled like they used to do when it looked likely that they were close to destruction," Carter said grimly after taking a quick look around as the others powered down as well. "We had best teleport back to the Aquabase."

At that moment, the communicator in Carter's morpher beeped as the communication link activated.

"No," Captain Mitchell stated firmly. "Using the teleportation system is _not _an option since we don't want the demons to be able to trace the signal to locate us or, even worse, copy it so that they can teleport directly into the Aquabase. I want you to come back through the emergency entrance."

"Yes, sir," Carter said respectfully as the other Rangers powered down as he shut off the communication link.

"Well, you heard my father," Ryan said grimly. "We had better hurry back."

The six of them took off at that moment towards the secret entrance into the Aquabase. None of them realised, however, that there were three demons following behind them right to their objective. The secret entrance into Aquabase.

And none of them knew anything about the disastrous consequences that this would have very soon either...

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, late morning, at that very moment_

"I'll just go open the emergency entrance to go let them in," Casey said grimly as he turned and rushed out of the Command Centre before anyone could stop him.

He too had a deep suspicion that something was _very_ wrong.

He was just more worried about his friends, whilst dealing also with his internal turmoil, to consider what had happened properly otherwise he might have been able to use his instincts to discern exactly what the demons were after at that very moment.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, early afternoon, several minutes later_

As they arrived at the emergency entrance into the Aquabase, hidden in a cavern on the beach, the Rangers were about to enter the complex password into the keypad when the door was opened from the other side by Casey.

"I'm glad that you're all fine," Casey said in greeting before he looked at the floor for a moment just as he admitted, "My heart was in my chest during the entire time that I was watching on the screen worrying about you getting badly injured or killed."

Ryan smiled.

"We're all right, Casey. None of us are too seriously hurt just as few small bruises here and there," he assured.

"Although I can't quite shake the feeling that there is something _very _wrong," Dana admitted. "The attack was very suspicious."

"Yeah," Chad agreed. "Diabolico also said that they weren't going to leave until they had gotten what they came for yet they seemed to have left empty handed."

This snapped Casey out of his worry and his inner turmoil as he suddenly became worried about what Chad had just said.

A cold chill ran up his spine, though, when he suddenly spotted the outlines of three figures hiding by the side of the mouth of the cave as they watched the scene with grins on their faces.

Diabolico, Vypra and Loki.

A horrified expression crossed Casey's face at that moment. Before he could say anything, though, the demons had already fled releasing that they had been spotted by Casey.

_We've got a major problem on our hands. _Casey thought grimly.

"Casey, is there something wrong?" Carter asked.

Casey blinked before he rapidly shook his head.

"No, nothing is wrong," Casey lied quickly. "Just thinking, that's all."

"We had better report to Captain Mitchell. I imagine that he has probably come to the same conclusion that we have about that attack," Kelsey said grimly. "Hopefully, he or Miss Rawlings might have some answers for us."

The five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers left at that moment. However, Ryan stayed behind.

"Are you sure that there is nothing wrong, Casey?" Ryan demanded.

"Positive," Casey replied with a grim smile upon his face. "You should get going to catch up with them."

"Aren't you coming?" Ryan asked.

"I'll be along in a few minutes. It seems that my shoelace has come undone," Casey replied. Ryan nodded and left to follow after the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers to the Command Centre.

Casey carefully bent down to pretend to be tying his shoelaces until Ryan was out of sight. Then, he stood up and closed the emergency entrance behind him to make sure that no one would be able to exploit the entrance to use it to mount an undetectable attack upon the Aquabase and its personnel because of his carelessness.

After that, he made his way to the mouth of the cave where, sure enough, there were three sets of demon tracks in the sand that were heading off rapidly into the distance. Casey grimaced before considering his options.

He could ignore the fact that the demons had ever been here. However, he knew that doing this would likely leave the Aquabase in grave peril and, on top of that, would risk his friends as well. It wasn't an option that Casey actually wanted to take.

He could also report this fact to Captain Mitchell but, given the issues between himself and the man, Casey knew that it was likely that the Captain wouldn't believe it by dismissing what Casey had seen as hallucinations. And, even if the Rangers did believe him, they would not act upon the information properly in time.

His third option, and the one that he felt to be the best, was the one that Casey eventually chose to carry out. The tracks were fresh and, if he hurried, he could use his skills to track the demons back to their base of operations. He would finally be able to prove that he wasn't useless because he _could _face the demons if he had to. Casey also hoped that this would go a long way in getting Captain Mitchell to start trusting him without the man continuously trying to force Casey's secrets out of him.

Casey was a Ranger so he was used to both risk and danger involved with missions like this one hence he wasn't worried about either of them. Besides, if worst came to worst, he could always morph to escape from the clutches of the demon hordes if he were discovered. Casey, however, didn't think that this would happen given the hours and hours of extensive training that he had put himself through over the last few years for combat in situations where he was outnumbered.

He closed his eyes for a moment before a smile came over his face.

He would almost certainly get a dressing down from his friends and Captain Mitchell for risking his life but that didn't matter to Casey at all. The location of the enemy's headquarters was exceptionally valuable information which completely outweighed the consequences of risking his neck to find it.

_Let's just hope that the tracks lead me to their headquarters in the first place. _Casey thought grimly as he began to follow the tracks. _And that there won't be a sandstorm any time soon..._


	9. Chapter 2: The Reckless Tiger

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Chapter 2: The Reckless Tiger

by Lauraac2110

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, early afternoon, several minutes later_

"Sir, we're all here now," Carter said respectfully as Ryan entered.

Captain Mitchell turned to them from where he and Miss Rawlings had been conversing between themselves privately.

"Both of us think that there was something wrong with that battle," Captain Mitchell said grimly. "Like Miss Rawlings said to me earlier, it was a little too perfect."

"We agree with you, sir," Joel finally said after a moment. "Everything seemed off when we were fighting them."

"And the fact that they left seemingly empty-handed when they said they wouldn't leave without getting what they had came for was rather suspicious as well," Dana added.

"Captain Mitchell and I are at a loss about what Diabolico, Vypra and Loki were actually after," Miss Rawlings said grimly. "But, whatever it is they were after, it would have to have been something that would benefit Bansheera immensely."

"We have no idea what they wanted either, Angela," Carter assured her. The others nodded in agreement with this statement as Captain Mitchell sighed as he turned to the personnel at the console.

"Take the Aquabase to red alert," he said grimly. "I think that it is safe to say that, regardless of what the demons were after, we're in trouble."

The personnel nodded as Captain Mitchell turned to the six Rangers.

"I want all of you to go get something to eat and drink before getting some rest," he said calmly. "You're going to need it."

"Yes, sir," Carter replied respectfully as the six of them left for the Canteen.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, mid-afternoon, some time later_

As Casey continued to follow the tracks through the desert, there was still no sign of where they ended despite the fact that he had been walking for several hours.

He was glad that the sun was covered by the clouds today otherwise he would have had problems with the blistering sunlight. As it was, it was comfortably warm although he was starting to sweat a little.

He desperately hoped that he would come upon the demon's hideout soon as he continued to follow the tracks across the sands at a reasonable pace so that he didn't have to endure the heat for too long if conditions in the desert changed rapidly.

_I wonder if anyone has noticed that I'm missing yet... _Casey thought as he continued onwards towards the demon's hideout.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, mid-afternoon, at that very moment_

The six of them had finished their lunch. Ryan was exceptionally agitated as he stared past them to the entrance into the canteen.

Casey hadn't shown up yet. And, given the fact that Casey had said that he would only be a few minutes, Ryan was very worried.

"Damn it," Ryan cursed. "Where is he?"

"Ok, what's wrong now?" Chad asked.

"Casey isn't here yet," Ryan replied. "After all of you had left, he said that his shoelace had come undone, and that he would be along in a few minutes, so I went on ahead without him. Now, it only takes a minute to tie a shoelace so he should have caught up with us already. I'm worried, guys."

"So am I," Carter admitted after a moment. The others quickly agreed with both Carter and Ryan.

"I think that we need to check the entire Aquabase for him," Ryan said grimly after they had all agreed that they were worried about Casey. "If we find him, fine. However, I have a funny feeling that we're not going to find him since Casey normally never misses a meal."

All of them stood up at that moment as Carter delegated everyone specific areas to search so that they would cover more ground quickly. They then agreed to meet up again in the canteen once they had searched their areas thoroughly before they set off to search for their missing friend.

_Somewhere in the Ruins of Mariner Bay, late afternoon, some time later_

When Casey arrived in the ruins of the city that he guessed must have once been Mariner Bay, the first thing he noticed was the revolting smell coming from the place. The second, was how ruined the buildings were.

The third thing that he noticed was the most important, though. There were Batlings absolutely everywhere so it was going to be difficult to continue following the tracks. Casey, however, was not going to give up.

He was glad that a good part of his training had been in stealth techniques otherwise he would have been in a lot of danger at that moment. As it was, he wasn't in as much danger as an average person would have been at that moment whilst he slowly but surely began to sneak through the city following the tracks as he went.

The smell, however, was so revolting that Casey was quite nauseated as he continued through the city.

_When I get back to the Aquabase, you had better appreciate this Captain Mitchell. _Casey thought grimly. _If I find that I've endured this revolting smell for nothing, I'll never be able to stand being in the same room as you again..._

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, late afternoon, at that very moment_

"Well?" Ryan asked anxiously.

The others shook their head.

"Nothing. None of the personnel have seen him either," Carter admitted grimly. "Not since this morning, anyway."

"Where is he?" Ryan hissed in frustration as he turned his back on them to hide the worry and anger in his eyes. The Lightspeed Rescue Rangers knew, however, exactly what he was feeling since they were also feeling the same things at that moment.

"Perhaps, we should check Casey's last known location for any clues to where he has gone," Kelsey suggested.

Carter nodded.

"A good idea," he said approvingly. "Let's go."

They left the canteen at that moment with grim expressions on their faces as each of them grew more worried for Casey whilst they also began to fear the worst.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, late afternoon, several minutes later_

"Guys, I think that you need to see this," Chad said grimly as he knelt by the tracks at the edge of the cavern. Everyone instantly came over to Chad to see what he had found and, when they saw the tracks, all of them knew instantly what Casey was doing especially when Ryan paled.

"Those are demon tracks. And, judging by them, I'd say that they were made by Diabolico, Vypra and Loki," he said grimly. "And that is definitely Casey's footprint given that I lent him my spare pair of shoes since we couldn't find a pair that would fit him otherwise."

Ryan became furious at that moment.

"How could he be so reckless? Why the hell is he risking his neck right now tracking the demons?" Ryan exclaimed loudly.

"Casey has never done something so reckless before," Dana said grimly. "He must either have a death wish or..."

"A strong need to prove himself," Kelsey finished. "To prove that he is not useless and, on top of that, to prove that he can be useful even though he isn't a Ranger."

Ryan launched into a tirade of curses at this for several moments as he vented both his fury and his frustration about Casey's actions. The others were silent and even more worried now.

When Ryan finally calmed down enough, Carter was the first to speak.

"Regardless of the fact that we're Casey's friends, I believe that we have to report this to Captain Mitchell," he said grimly. "Casey's actions have put both himself and the Aquabase in great danger. If the demons were to get their hands upon him, there is no telling what they would do to him or use him for. This has gone beyond us."

Dana sighed as everyone fell silent for several moments.

"At least one good thing has come of this, we now know that the demons were after the location of the emergency entrance into the Aquabase," she said grimly.

"And we led them right to it," Joel muttered.

"All right, I won't stop you," Ryan said as he grimaced after a moment. "But you're telling him about what Casey has done, Carter, since I don't want to face my father's wrath."

Carter sighed before he nodded.

"We had better get this over with then," Ryan said grimly. "After you, Carter."

Carter grimaced again before he and the others made their way back inside the Aquabase. Ryan, being the last one to enter, closed the emergency entrance behind them.None of them were looking forward to Captain Mitchell's displeasure when he heard about what Casey has done but they knew, deep inside them, that reporting this to him was the right thing to do given the fact that everyone was now in danger because of Casey's recklessness.

_Somewhere in the Ruins of Mariner Bay, late afternoon, some time later_

_So this is Bansheera's hideout. _Casey thought grimly as he looked on at the entrance to Skull Caverns resting in the middle of the city from his hiding place in one of the nearby ruined buildings. _Impressive._

The massive cavern was indeed impressive, tall, bleak and dominating compared to its surroundings. The jagged, rough entrance gave the cavern quite a sinister feeling which Casey felt was quite appropriate given the fact that the Queen of the Demons and her minions resided in it.

Now that he had found Bansheera's hideout, he could quite easily go back and report its location to Captain Mitchell without going any further.

Casey, however, didn't want to. He wanted to go one step further. One step more to show that he was _not _useless despite the fact he kept his own counsel.

He wanted to go into the cavern so that he could, _hopefully_, eavesdrop in Queen Bansheera's conversations to see if he could pick up any useful information regarding her plans. He knew that it was going to be risky, and that there was a high chance of him being caught, but he was going to take that risk.

He wasn't a Ranger for nothing. And it wouldn't be the first time that he had been alone in the lair of a major villain.

Although it _would _be the first time that he had ever been in a demon's lair.

He took a deep breath to calm himself at that moment. Already, his heart was beginning to pound as adrenaline pumped through his body at the thought of a risky, yet strangely exhilarating, adventure. It would do him no good to sneak into the demon's lair like _that _in case the demon's super hearing caught him out.

Once he was finally calm, and there were no signs of Batlings in the immediate vicinity, he quickly crept into Skull Caverns remaining alert as he slowly but surely made his way into what was completely the demon's territory from which there was a high chance that he wouldn't re-emerge from.

_Somewhere in the Ruins of Mariner Bay, Skull Caverns, in the corridor outside the Throne Room, late afternoon, several minutes later_

Casey had been wandering aimlessly through the caverns, making sure to conceal himself thoroughly as he went, for several minutes when he heard them.

"... I am exceptionally pleased that you found the emergency entrance to the Aquabase, Jinxer," someone said. Casey instantly guessed that this had to be Bansheera. He followed the voice directly to the Throne Room where he caught several glimpses of the Queen of the Demons, her son Olympius and Jinxer. They looked exactly as Ryan had once described them to be to him with the exception of the queen herself as she seemed taller than Ryan had described her to be.

Jinxer was kneeling before Bansheera who rested upon her throne.

"Thank you, my Queen," Jinxer said gratefully.

"You will prepare a suitable demon to attack the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers," she commanded. "Make sure it is the strongest, fastest and most cunning demon we have here."

Casey grimaced at this. _That's definitely not good at all._

"As you wish, my Queen," Jinxer said confidently.

"You are dismissed, Jinxer," Bansheera said coldly.

"Yes, my Queen," Jinxer replied as he got up from his kneeling position before turning to leave the Throne Room. Casey paled.

_Time to go... _he thought as he quickly, but silently, fled the corridor to escape from Skull Caverns. Now, since he had the location of the caverns, _and _some idea of Bansheera's plans, there was no point in hanging around. The quicker that he got this information back to the Aquabase, the better as far as Casey was concerned.

Especially since the fate of the entire Aquabase depended upon his information. If he didn't make it back before the demon they were preparing to send did, the Rangers, and the Aquabase, would be taken unaware and likely destroyed.

_And I certainly don't want to be here in Mariner Bay when darkness descends either. _Casey thought grimly as he continued to make his way out of the caverns. _If I am, the likelihood of me actually getting back to the Aquabase alive will be even slimmer than it is now._

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, early evening, at that very moment_

"...Mr Rhodes has left the Aquabase and is doing _what_?" Captain Mitchell exclaimed in a tone of disbelief and fury after Carter had patiently explained what they knew about Casey's whereabouts, and the fact that the emergency entrance location has been compromised, to him. Carter patiently explained it again.

"If I ever get my hands on that man," Captain Mitchell exclaimed furiously once Carter had finished his explanation. "I'm going to kill him for pulling off such a reckless, and exceptionally dangerous, stunt. What the hell was he thinking when he went off, on his own no less, to track the demons?"

"I believe, father, that Casey has done this to prove that he isn't useless," Ryan said grimly. "And also to get you to trust him without constantly prying for his secrets every five minutes as well."

Ryan then looked at the floor in shame.

"This is partially my fault," he admitted. "Casey wanted to help us against the demons earlier yet both you and I told him no, father. I think that the fact that we didn't let him help, because he isn't a Ranger, might have drove him to prove his usefulness more than any other factor."

"It's not your fault, Ryan," Dana reassured. "Casey is to blame for his own reckless actions although I do see why Casey has done this now."

Her tone turned icy as she looked directly to her father and said, "You shouldn't have put Casey in such a position that he felt that he had to risk his neck pulling off a dangerous stunt just to _prove _himself to us, father. You're as much to blame as Casey right now."

Captain Mitchell shook his head. "It is entirely Mr Rhodes fault. He is completely to blame for his own reckless actions, Dana, and I have nothing to do with why he has chosen to risk his neck tracking the demons."

He paused for a moment as he sighed grimly to calm himself down a little.

"Since Mr Rhodes is freely risking his neck, I see no need to risk the lives of anyone else to rescue him," Captain Mitchell said calmly. "None of you, as the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers, will go after him. He is on his own now. You are dismissed."

"Yes, sir," Carter said respectfully before the six of them left Captain Mitchell alone to deal with his anger.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, early evening, several minutes later_

"I'm really worried about Casey," Ryan said grimly. "I know that my father said that we weren't to go after Casey but I'm seriously considering disobeying him."

"I'm seriously considering the same thing, Ryan," Chad assured.

"Yeah, Casey's our friend. We can't just leave him out there on his own!" Joel exclaimed. "Despite what Captain Mitchell says."

"I'm not usually one for rebellion but even I am considering disobeying my father," Dana added in quietly.

Carter grimaced at this.

"Whether we like it or not, Casey did go off by himself into dangerous territory," Carter said grimly. "I'm as worried about him as all of you are. However, Captain Mitchell did have a fair point when he forbade us to go after him. If anything happened to us, the Aquabase would be left defenceless. We can't risk that by all going after Casey."

Kelsey, who had been silent up until this point, suddenly smiled as she realised something very important.

"Captain Mitchell specifically forbade the _Lightspeed Rescue _Rangers from going after Casey," she pointed out. "At no point did he forbid the _Titanium _Ranger from going after Casey."

A massive grin spread over Ryan's face.

"Kelsey, you're brilliant," he declared. "There is our solution. All of you will stay here whilst I go after Casey myself."

Carter nodded.

"We're not disobeying Captain Mitchell in any way so I'm in," Carter assured. "We'll cover for you whilst you're gone, Ryan, although we will have to tell Captain Mitchell about what you've done if you don't return within a certain time limit say... six hours?"

"You'll have to be exceptionally careful, though, Ryan," Dana warned. "If anything happens to you, we won't be able to come rescue you since we've been forbidden from doing anything to help Casey."

"I will," Ryan vowed.

"Good luck, my friend," Joel said with a small smile. "I think that you're going to need it."

Ryan nodded before he turned and ran towards the emergency exit. Once he was out of hearing range, Carter sighed.

"So, what are we going to tell anyone who comes looking for Ryan?" he asked the others bluntly.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, early evening, several minutes later again_

When Ryan left the Aquabase, and shut the emergency entrance behind him, he quickly made his way over to the tracks. He was glad to see that they hadn't yet been erased by a sandstorm so he would still be able to follow them, hopefully, straight to Casey.

_When I find you Casey, I'm going to make sure that you understand exactly how reckless this stunt you pulled was. _Ryan vowed as he set off. _Although I do hope that you're well right now..._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, early evening, at that very moment_

_Finally, I'm out of the ruins of Mariner Bay. _Casey thought with relief as he cleared the nearest sand dune outside of the city. _Hopefully things should be a little more plain sailing from here although I am quite exhausted, thirsty and rather hungry right now. When I get back to the Aquabase, the first thing that I'm going to do is get something to eat, drink and rest._

He sighed at that moment as he took a moment to catch his breath.

_Just a few more hours and I'll be back at the Aquabase. _He thought. _It's too dangerous to rest here so I had better get moving before any Batlings on patrol find me._

He started to following his tracks back again at that moment without another thought.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City,_ _mid-evening, some time later_

Exhaustion finally got the better of Casey when he was trying to sneak around a patrol of Grinders some time later. He wasn't quite paying attention to his surroundings and, unfortunately, managed to trip over a thick stone lying in the sand.

His subsequent cry of surprise, and the fact that he had landed flat on his face in the sand, attracted their attention. Almost instantly, the Grinders started to fire at him so he quickly rolled out of the way, got to his feet and fled from them.

"Damn," he cursed under his breath as the Grinders took up pursuit. "Just my luck. I'm trying to get away from Mariner Bay which is crawling with Batlings and I run into the Grinders."

He had to duck at that moment to avoid a shot fired at him before he picked up the pace as he definitely did not want to get caught by them.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City,_ _mid-evening, at that very moment_

When Ryan saw the flashes of light and heard the sounds of shots being fired as he continued to follow the tracks, he knew that it had to be Casey that they were firing at.

_He's in trouble. _Ryan thought grimly. _Sounds like he ran into the Grinders. I had better hurry up otherwise they'll likely kill him. _

With that, Ryan picked up the pace. He could only hope that he got to Casey before it was too late otherwise he knew that he would never be able to forgive himself since he was still blaming himself for Casey taking such reckless action in the first place.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, mid-evening, also at that very moment_

"I'm worried about them both," Dana admitted quietly as the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers sat eating dinner together whilst waiting anxiously for Ryan and Casey to return. Carter took her hand reassuringly.

"So am I, Dana. We've just got to wait and hope for the best, though," Carter said quietly. "There's nothing else that we can do."

The other three Rangers nodded in agreement with him and Dana sighed.

_Ryan you had better bring yourself and Casey back safely. _Dana thought as she nodded in agreement with Carter's words as well. _I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you..._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City,_ _mid-evening, several minutes later_

Exhaustion once again got the better of Casey as he once again tripped over another stone at the top of a sand dune. Before he could stop himself, he tumbled down into the sand below but, thankfully, he managed to use his training to make sure that he avoided injury by curling up into a roll.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn't get up to escape before the Grinders had completely surrounded him. He was trapped completely so the only way that he was going to get back to the Aquabase now was by destroying all of them. Grimly, he tried to get to his feet but the shot that one of the Grinders fired at him kept him down.

Fortunately, Ryan chose this moment to leap over one of the nearby sand dunes, in his Ranger form, to take on the Grinders.

"Ryan!" Casey exclaimed as Ryan took out several of the Grinders by throwing his axe. He then took out several more in rapid succession by having them fire upon each other as he weaved his way through them. The last one, however, Casey took out himself with a well-aimed kick that punched a gaping hole in its chest.

Once all of the Grinders had been destroyed, Ryan retrieved his axe, put it away and powered down. He then turned to Casey with a furious expression upon his face.

Casey flinched. He knew exactly what was going to come next.

"How could you be so damn reckless, Casey? Do you know how many lives you could have endangered had you been caught either by these Grinders or by the Batlings? Do you?" Ryan exclaimed furiously.

Casey nodded as he sighed.

"Of course I do," he said simply.

"The others and I were absolutely sick with worry when we found out that you had gone off to risk your own neck tracking the demons," Ryan continued. "On top of that, we had to report you to my father who is also understandably furious with you. He had forbidden us from coming after you, you know, so you would probably be dead right now had Kelsey not spotted a loophole in his words."

Casey's expression darkened at this.

"I assure you, Ryan, that I would not have been killed or captured," he said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Had you not intervened, I would have fought and destroyed the Grinders myself."

_And, if worse came to worse, I would have used my Solar Morpher. _Casey added mentally.

"I was not in any serious danger," he assured.

"It didn't look like that to me," Ryan said coldly. Casey sighed.

Silence prevailed for several moments before Casey broke it.

"Look, you're angry at me and I understand that," he said grimly. "However, it is not safe for us to stay here. We should really get back to the Aquabase before it gets too dark. Once there, you and the others can voice your displeasure as much as you want."

Ryan nodded.

"Let's go," Ryan said simply after a moment. Casey nodded and, together, both of them silently began to follow the tracks back to the Aquabase.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, late evening, some time later_

"Casey Rhodes, how could you pull such a reckless stunt?" Dana demanded as Ryan and Casey entered the Aquabase and shut the emergency entrance behind them.

Casey sighed at this as he found that all of the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were waiting for him in the corridor. It looked like they had all decided to wait on both of them returning after getting too worried to get some rest.

"Yeah, Casey, recklessness isn't a trait that I thought you possessed," Carter added. "Why the hell did you risk your neck to track the demons?"

_Recklessness is a trait all Red Rangers possess in various degrees, Carter, and you really should know that. Just because I've never needed to be reckless before, doesn't mean that the reckless trait hasn't been present all along. _Casey thought as a small smile crept over his face.

"Well?" Kelsey demanded.

"It was my way of proving that I'm not useless to you," Casey said as he glared at Ryan for a moment as he sighed wearily. "And also to get Captain Mitchell off of my back. Just because I have secrets, it doesn't mean that I can't be trusted."

He paused for a moment.

"It was worth the risk," Casey assured. "And I would do it again if I had to."

"Just what could be so valuable that you would risk your neck for?" Joel demanded.

Casey smiled at this.

"I know _exactly _where Bansheera and her minions are calling their hideout," Casey replied. "And I also know a little about what she is planning too."

The six Rangers were stunned into silence at this.

"The information is so valuable that I risked my neck to get it," he continued. "And I would do it again if I had to."

He paused for a moment as his smile widened.

"Now, if you don't mind, I need to get something to eat and drink whilst taking some time to rest," he said grimly. "I'm utterly exhausted, hungry and thirsty right now."

At that moment, Ryan was the first to recover from his shock.

"Just how the hell did you manage to hear about some of Bansheera's plans?" he demanded.

Casey grinned.

"Well..." he began as the seven of them headed towards the canteen.


	10. Chapter 3: A Question of Trust

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Chapter 3: A Question of Trust

by Lauraac2110

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, late evening, several minutes later_

"... I still can't believe that you managed to sneak right into Skull Caverns and escape undetected," Carter was saying as Casey continued to polish off his dinner and a bottle of water to quench his hunger and thirst. "And I never suspected that you would be _that _reckless Casey to even attempt such a stunt."

"You're lucky to be alive right now, Casey," Kelsey chipped in.

"And we're still furious with you for pulling such a stunt," Dana added disapprovingly. "If you had been caught, you would have put the entire Aquabase in grave danger."

Casey sighed at this.

"I assure all of you that I would not have been caught," he said calmly.

"It didn't look like that to me when I rescued you," Ryan muttered.

"Hey!" Casey protested as he finished his dinner. "I would have escaped those Grinders easily enough without your help, Ryan, just like I escaped from the ruins of Mariner Bay."

"On that subject, just how did you get past all of those Batlings and escape the notice of the demons in the ruins of the city?" Joel asked curiously.

"The same way that I can still defeat all of you hands down in battle," Casey replied cryptically. "I've been trained very well by an excellent teacher."

A small sad smile crept over his face at that moment as he remembered his friends, the Jungle Fury Rangers, and their extensive training sessions in RJ's loft. Fond memories of RJ's more... unconventional teaching methods came to him. However, he quickly brushed them to one side as Dana asked for some more details.

"There's nothing more to say," Casey said calmly. "My past will be staying in the past."

At that moment, all of them were distracted when Angela Rawlings entered.

"There you are Joel. I've been looking all over for you," she said as she walked over to the table. She had not yet noticed Casey sitting at the other side of the table to Joel otherwise she, like the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers, would have probably reacted furiously towards him first. "Aren't you coming to bed? Given what you've been through today, you really should be getting some rest and..."

She trailed off at this as she finally noticed Casey sitting there. Casey flinched as the others smirked slightly.

"Casey Rhodes!" she screeched. "How could you pull off such a reckless idiotic, and positively dangerous, stunt?"

"Angela, I..." Casey began. She never let him finish his explanation as she went over to him, hauled him to his feet and grabbed his arm.

"Save it for Captain Mitchell, Casey," she said coldly. "I think that he should hear of your escapade. Come along."

Before Casey could protest, she dragged him off. The other Rangers looked amongst themselves for a moment before Carter sighed.

"We may as well go after them," Carter said grimly as he stood up. "I don't think that it is a good idea for us to leave Casey with both Miss Rawlings and Captain Mitchell to deal with on his own."

"Besides," Joel added with a sly smile. "We might be able to get to hear the full story of Casey's escapade. I got the impression that he left a few details out here and there when he told us about what happened."

The others nodded and, together, the six Rangers left the canteen to go after Casey and Miss Rawlings.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, quite late in the evening, some time later_

"And that's what happened," Casey said as he finished his tale to Captain Mitchell who had a furious expression upon his face. He had been almost completely honest with the man but had left out the fact that Ryan had rescued him from the Grinders since he didn't want to get his friend into any trouble on his part.

The only new things that the Rangers learned were the fact that Mariner Bay had a repulsive smell to it and that it was mostly ruins now. Otherwise, the tale was completely the same as the one that Casey had told them en route to the canteen earlier.

None of those present in the Command Centre knew exactly where and who Casey had learned the skills to successfully sneak around without detection from since Casey had once again dodged the subject when detailing what had happened to him. He definitely didn't want to mention RJ, Pai Zhua or anything else that would provide them with a connection to the fact that he was a Ranger since he still felt that he couldn't trust Captain Mitchell.

Captain Mitchell, who had been impatiently silent so that he could hear the entire tale despite the fact that he was exceptionally furious with Casey for pulling such a reckless stunt, turned from where he was facing the wall to directly face Casey with a cold expression upon his face.

Casey flinched.

"Tracking the demons on your own was a reckless and exceptionally dangerous stunt," he said furiously. "You could have been captured! If that had happened, you would have put the personnel of the entire Aquabase in danger since you possess a decent amount of knowledge about the various inner workings of the command chain here."

"You could have also been killed!" Captain Mitchell continued. "Why did you do it?"

"Because I wanted to prove that, despite the fact that I'm not a Ranger, I'm not useless around here," Casey replied coolly. "On top of that, I also wanted to get _you _off of my back as well. For once, it would be nice if you actually trusted me without you trying to uncover all of my secrets constantly."

"Trust you?" Captain Mitchell retorted furiously. "If anything, you've proved that you can't be trusted after pulling off that reckless stunt today."

Captain Mitchell paused for a long moment.

"Mr Rhodes, you've kept your own counsel here since the day you arrived," he continued. "You've been acting far too distant over the past two years to keep your secrets. If we knew more about you, we might actually be able to trust you more."

Casey, who had been struggling to contain his temper up until this point, stopped trying to control it and truly lost his temper utterly for the first time in two years. For everyone in the Command Centre, this was a terrifying sight. They had all seen the rare moments when Casey had lost his temper slightly but never, until now, had they ever seen him let go so much. The entire Aquabase started shaking at that moment just as Casey's expression grew completely furious.

"My past will remain in the past," Casey snarled furiously. "I have absolutely no desire to talk about my life before coming here since it is all lost to me now. And it hurts like hell to even think about it some times."

He paused for only a fraction of a second before he continued with, "If you hadn't been so hostile towards me since the moment that we met, I might have talked a little more about my past. It's too late to talk about what might have been though."

"You are a useless and untrustworthy member of the Aquabase personnel, Mr Rhodes," Captain Mitchell hissed. "Just what are you hiding behind that mask of yours?"

Everyone in the Command Centre fell deadly silent as the shaking intensified. Casey closed his eyes since he could tell that Captain Mitchell had only spoke the truth to him which had hurt him a great deal.

"My past will remain in the past," Casey stated as he took a deep breath to try to calm himself. "It is quite clear that me and my talents are not appreciated here despite the fact that I risked my neck to try to bring you priceless information. You have left me with no alternative but the one that will come back to haunt you eventually."

"With Venjix gone, the Grinders will be easier to bypass," he continued. "I believe that it is time for me to make my way back to where I came from to see if anyone I once knew is still alive. Without your permission, since you are not my superior, I'm leaving immediately. Goodbye."

Casey stormed off at this. All of the Rangers paled.

"Casey, wait!" Ryan exclaimed as he fled after his friend.

"Good riddance," Captain Mitchell said grimly.

"Father!" Dana exclaimed angrily as she began to tear into him for his stubbornness. "I'll have you know that..."

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Kitchen, quite late in the evening, several minutes later_

As Casey entered the kitchen, he took several deep breaths to calm himself to stop the powerful tremors that were causing the entire Aquabase to shake because he had no control over the animal spirit within himself.

When he finally calmed down, the tremors stopped and Casey cursed himself.

It had been a long time since he had completely unleashed his fury upon someone like _that _given the fact that it was a rather risky act. He had been taught by Master Mao to control himself to make sure that others didn't get hurt by his animal spirit in periods of heightened emotion but he had failed to do so this time.

Captain Mitchell had just made him so... _angry_ when he had been so brutally honest to him. He had tried to prove that he wasn't useless, and that he could be trusted, by tracking the demons but that plan had backfired upon him completely.

And now he was leaving.

He hadn't really planned to go at all but Casey just couldn't stand being anywhere near that man any longer. And he knew that, if he didn't go, he would be endangering all of the Aquabase personnel since his Tiger Spirit was so powerful that it could easily destroy the Aquabase if he unleashed his anger upon anyone again.

On top of that, everyone would probably start asking a lot of awkward questions of him in regards to his past which he didn't want to talk about given the fact that his heart was still heavy with the loss of his old friends, the Jungle Fury Rangers, even though he had made new ones here.

So it really was for the best that he was getting as far away from here as possible.

He sighed as he quickly fetched enough supplies to last him a few days which he then packed into an empty rucksack which was lying, abandoned, in the corner. He then put the rucksack onto his back and, after one last look fondly into the canteen where he had spent a lot of time with his new friends, he left for the emergency entrance.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very late in the evening, several minutes later_

Casey wasn't surprised to find Ryan waiting for him by the emergency entrance with a pained expression upon his face.

"Casey, wait... I..." Ryan began.

"You're not going to change my mind, Ryan," Casey said simply as he opened the emergency entrance and stepped out into the cavern. "Goodbye."

"But Casey..." Ryan began again as he followed Casey out of the cavern and onto the beach. Casey ignored him this time as he started to walk up the beach. Ryan grew desperate at that moment.

"Please, Casey, wait!" he yelled. "He didn't mean it..."

"Don't lie to me. I know that your father meant it, Ryan," Casey said as he continued to walk along the beach. "However, he is right that I've been acting too distant over the past two years. Sure, I'm your friend but, to be honest, do you actually know anything about me beyond my name and the few things that I've told you about my life?"

"No but..." Ryan began.

"Exactly," Casey said simply as he turned back to Ryan.

"It doesn't matter, though," Ryan replied simply. "You're still our friend regardless of what we know about you. Don't go."

Casey sighed. "I don't belong here and you know it."

"That's not true. My father didn't..." Ryan began.

"Lying won't make me feel better, Ryan," Casey snapped. "I _know _what is the truth and what isn't. It's a gift that I've had for a long time now so I know that what you're saying isn't the truth!"

Casey continued walking as Ryan stood there. It was clear by the expression on his face that he was quite stunned by this revelation. After a few minutes, he finally snapped out of his shock as he spotted Batlings appear on the beach.

"Casey, look out!" Ryan yelled. Casey turned rapidly and saw the Batlings. Then, he turned back and fled past Ryan as the Batlings opened fire.

"Titanium Power!" Ryan called as he opened up the panel on his Titanium Morpher and morphed into the Titanium Ranger. "Run, Casey, and get the others!"

Casey nodded and continued to flee down the beach.

However, he hadn't gotten very far when he heard Ryan cry out. He turned back and saw that the Batlings had somehow managed to deal Ryan a powerful blow which had allowed them to pounce on him.

Casey stopped instantly in his tracks. As he stood there and watched as Ryan was forcibly powered down because of the strength of the blows, he closed his eyes. He was facing his moral dilemma again. On the one hand, he knew that he shouldn't risk using his Solar Morpher to morph because he didn't want Ryan's father, Captain Mitchell, to find out about what he once was. On the other, though, he couldn't let Ryan be injured or worse when he could do something about it.

He remained hesitantly still for a moment before he decided enough was enough. He couldn't just stand there. He began to reach down to his belt to the Solar Morpher before he had a better idea.

"Call to the spirit within, free the Tiger!" Casey called as he quickly made his way through the Tiger Stances. Seconds later, his Tiger Spirit leapt forth from his hands and destroyed the Batlings before it vanished. Casey instantly took a deep breath before Ryan turned to him.

"Casey... what did you...?" Ryan began as he stumbled to his feet.

"It was nothing," Casey said simply. "And it doesn't change anything. I'm still leaving."

"I don't think so," Captain Mitchell said shortly as he suddenly appeared on the beach with Dana and the four other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers at his side. "I saw what you did on the monitors, Casey, and I want to know _how._"

Casey shook his head. "That's my secret, Captain, and, as far as I'm concerned, I'm out of here," he said simply as he walked right past Ryan and headed further up the beach.

"Casey! Wait!" Ryan called. Casey, however, ignored him and continued up the beach.

"I'm not letting him go alone," Carter said grimly to the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers. "The rest of you go back to the Aquabase whilst Ryan and I try to convince him to come back."

"No disrespect intended, father, but you handled this quite badly," Ryan added coldly.

Then, without another word, both Ryan and Carter followed after Casey whilst the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers vanished with Captain Mitchell back to the Aquabase.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very late in the evening, several minutes later again_

"Casey! Wait!" Ryan called again as they both tried to catch up with him.

"You're not going to change my mind. I'm leaving," Casey replied as he continued to walk down the beach. "And I'm not telling you about what I did earlier either."

"Fine. Don't tell us," Carter said. "But we're still coming with you regardless."

"You're our friend. And we're not going to let you risk your neck again on your own," Ryan added as they both caught up with him.

"If that's what you wish," Casey said coldly. "However, I'm so useless that I'm in no way responsible for your well being if anything happens."

"Casey, my father..." Ryan began. Casey, however, wasn't listening to him and continued to walk down the beach as if he or Carter weren't there.

Carter sighed.

"This is not going to be easy," he mused as they rushed to catch up with Casey again.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very late in the evening, at that very moment_

A large grin spread across Olympius's features as he watched the two Rangers follow after their friend from the top of a nearby sand dune which looked down on the beach below.

_This is perfect. With the Rangers divided, it will be much easier for my mother's plans to be carried out successfully. _He thought.

Behind him, Jinxer, the Batlings and the most powerful demon available, Arachnos, were waiting out of sight so that the Rangers didn't see them and raise the alarm.

"Your orders, my Prince?" Jinxer enquired.

"Take the Batlings and proceed to storm the Aquabase as planned, Jinxer," Olympius commanded. Jinxer nodded and turned to the Batlings. After barking a few hasty commands to them, Jinxer led the Batlings off to the emergency entrance into the Aquabase whilst Arachnos approached him.

"What about us, my Prince?" Arachnos asked curiously.

Olympius grinned slyly.

"We're going after the other two Rangers and their friend, Arachnos," he answered whilst laughing maniacally. "And, if I have my way, we're going to destroy them slowly and painfully in revenge for what the two Rangers did to my mother all those years ago."


	11. Chapter 4: Ranger Revealed

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe 

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Chapter 4: Ranger Revealed

By Lauraac2110

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very late in the evening, some time later_

"Casey, please wait up!" Ryan called as Casey continued to walk down the beach. Both he and Ryan were struggling to keep up with him since he was walking exceptionally quickly because he wanted to get as far away as he possibly could from the Aquabase.

At Ryan's call, Casey turned to both of them as he stopped for a moment.

"I'm not going to wait for you," he replied coolly. "Since both of you wanted to come with me, you'll both have to keep up on your own."

With that, he turned away from them and continued onwards down the beach once again. Ryan sighed in exasperation before rushing to catch up with Casey. Carter, on the other hand, grimaced before following after Ryan.

_Correction, it's going to be exceptionally difficult to convince Casey to come back to the Aquabase. _Carter thought before he grimaced again as he was forced to pick up the pace to try to keep up with Casey who was now walking even quicker down the beach in an attempt to lose both of them. _Wow, I never knew that Casey could move so quickly..._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very, very late in the evening, some time later again_

"Casey really can move fast, can't he?" Carter said quietly as he and Ryan continued to follow Casey down the beach. Both of them were beginning to get slightly tired but they were both determined to keep up with Casey no matter what so they pressed on regardless.

Ryan grimaced before he nodded in reply.

"Yeah," he said simply before he fell silent again as they continued to follow Casey.

Several minutes later, Ryan spoke again.

"Casey's got a mixed expression somewhere between anger and sorrow on his face right now," Ryan said grimly. "If I were to make a guess about what is going on in his head right now, I'd say that he's really angry about what my father said to him."

Ryan then fell silent again and Carter grimaced.

"His old wounds appear to have opened up again, haven't they?" Carter asked. Ryan nodded.

"Whatever Casey hasn't been saying, it must be tragic if he absolutely refuses to talk about it or his past," Ryan answered. "I've never pried about his past since he came here but I have often wondered about it. I still don't know what could be so tragic that he can't speak to us about it although I know, in my heart, that it has to be something serious."

"Me too," Carter agreed as both of them looked to Casey at that moment who was locked in another internal debate as he walked.

… _I still can't believe that I was so stupid to reveal my Tiger Spirit! Although, if I think about it, there really wasn't another option earlier. If I hadn't done something, Ryan would likely not be here right now. _Casey thought grimly as he walked. _And at least I didn't reveal that I'm a Ranger. That would have been much worse. _

He sighed as he walked.

_Not that it matters anyway. The Aquabase, and Captain Mitchell, are far behind me now. _Casey thought. _I'm definitely glad to be far away from Captain Mitchell right now since he would have probably pestered me heavily for answers that I just would not have given him about my animal spirit and my past if I had stayed._

He glanced back for a moment to see Ryan and Carter following him before he grimaced.

_Just why are they even bothering to follow me to "convince" me to go back to the Aquabase? _He thought. _There's no way in hell that I'm ever going back there after today. Captain Mitchell proved without a doubt that me and my skills are absolutely useless there since he hates the fact that I kept secrets from him._

He continued onwards down the beach as he sighed.

_Why can't they just let me go? _Casey thought. _They're my friends so they really should understand that I need to move on now, without them, since I risk losing control of my animal spirit again if I go anywhere near Captain Mitchell._

"Casey! Wait!" Ryan called again. Casey sighed.

_Perhaps, if I ignore them completely, they'll finally get the message that I don't want them to be here with me right now... _Casey thought.

And, with that, Casey ignored Ryan as he kept walking down the beach.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, midnight, some time later again_

When midnight came, both Ryan and Carter had finally gotten the message. And they also had officially had enough.

They were not going to politely refrain from mentioning anything about Casey's past or about what he had done earlier any longer. The time for hidden secrets, especially Casey's secrets, was now officially over. It was quite clear that whatever he was hiding was having a great effect upon him and both Carter and Ryan wanted to get to the bottom of it so that they could help him in whatever way they could.

Leaving the Aquabase, and venturing into dangerous territory, was not the right solution to Casey's problem in their opinion. And, if they knew more about what exactly Casey was hiding, both of them felt that they would have a better chance of convincing Casey to change his mind. Not to mention that it would probably also make Casey feel better if he got whatever he had been keeping close to his chest for the past two years out.

"Casey, enough is enough," Carter stated firmly as he stopped. "This can't go on. The time for secrets is over."

"Carter's right, Casey. You're my friend but I can't stand by and ignore the issue any longer. I can see that whatever you have been hiding, along with your anger at my father, is affecting you pretty badly," Ryan added quietly. "Just what haven't you told us? And just what can be so bad that it made you feel that you had to leave the Aquabase instead of talking about your past?"

Casey stopped in his tracks at that moment as he turned to them with an expression of unrestrained fury upon his face.

"My past is going to remain in the past," Casey snarled as he once again lost control of the Tiger Spirit within. The ground began to tremble as Casey continued with, "There are some things that I do not want your father to know, Ryan. And there are also some things that are just too painful to talk about. When Venjix invaded, I lost more than most people have. I lost absolutely _everything _and _everyone_ that I had ever known. I even nearly died in the process!"

He paused for a moment.

"On top of that, there is a lot of things that I've seen and done before I ended up in the Aquabase which you wouldn't be able to even imagine," he continued. "So I'll be able to survive quite easily out here on my own, thank you, which means that you both can go back to the Aquabase without me since I'm not coming back with either of you despite the fact that you want me to."

He took a deep calming breath at that moment to calm himself down. Once he had regained control of his animal spirit, the trembling stopped and his expression turned frosty.

"In fact, I don't even want anything to do with either of you any more," Casey continued. "So this is goodbye."

With that, Casey stalked right past them to an opening in the sand dunes from where he could start to head inland.

"Casey, please wait!" Ryan called to him in frustration. "I'm sorry..."

Casey turned to him. From his expression, both of them knew that he was about to snarl back at them. However, before he did, his expression quickly turned to one of horror as he instinctively knew that there were demons nearby which meant that they were in trouble.

"Ryan! Carter!" Casey yelled as he watched in horror from where he stood whilst Arachnos and Olympius leapt out from behind a nearby boulder to attack. "Behind you!"

Carter and Ryan half-turned at Casey's shout but they were unable to properly defend themselves since Olympius was upon them before either of them could react appropriately. The Prince of the Demons managed to easily throw Carter to one side before he quickly got Ryan in a headlock with a sword to his neck.

"Well, well, well... Olympius. What a surprise," Ryan hissed as he struggled to get free.

"Ah, ah, ah, Titanium Ranger," Olympius tutted as he tightened his grip on Ryan and brought the sword ever closer to his neck. "I wouldn't if I were you."

"Let him go, Olympius," Casey growled.

"Hmm... let me think about that one," he replied. "Make me."

Casey fell silent as Carter got onto his feet.

"With pleasure," Carter replied as he activated his morpher. "Lightspeed, Rescue!"

He morphed into the Red Lightspeed Ranger and then instantly moved to attack Olympius. However, Arachnos quickly blocked his path and, as they quickly became embroiled in battle, Casey knew that they were definitely in a lot of trouble now.

Carter wouldn't be able to rescue Ryan from Olympius now. Unfortunately, Casey knew that only he would.

However, that was a problem and Casey was quickly embroiled in the same internal dilemma that he had been in earlier. He couldn't reveal that he was a Ranger, since Captain Mitchell would almost certainly find out, but he couldn't let anything happen to his friends either.

"What's the matter? Are you too afraid to fight me?" Olympius asked.

"I'm not afraid of you," Casey replied as he stood ready to battle Olympius. "If I were, I would've ran in fear by now."

"Casey, don't even think about fighting Olympius!" Ryan exclaimed. "The star power makes him a dangerous opponent. Without..."

"Don't worry, I'm just as dangerous, Ryan," Casey assured. "I've beaten worse than Olympius before so I am confident that I can quite easily do it again."

"Well, well, well, so you're a cocky one. Very well, if you think that you can beat me, let's see your best move," Olympius replied as he threw Ryan to one side. Before Ryan could get back up, he was quickly pinned to the ground by sticky ropes which Arachnos spat at him whilst fighting Carter at that moment.

"I'll give you one chance, Olympius," Casey said calmly. "Leave or I will destroy you this day."

Olympius laughed at this.

"I'll destroy _you_ this day," the demon countered.

With the exchange of threats over, Olympius charged at Casey and Casey quickly became locked in a heated battle with the Prince of the Demons. Each move that Olympius made, Casey countered with twice the ferocity and it quickly became apparent that they were more than evenly matched as they continued to fight back and forth across the beach.

Eventually, Olympius managed to overcome Casey and, with a stunning blow to his chest, Olympius sent Casey flying backwards onto the sand.

"I'm not done, yet, Olympius," Casey warned as his got back up onto his feet. His hand reached down to his belt to his Solar Morpher before he paused as he hesitated like he had done earlier for a moment. Again, instead of using his morpher, he resorted to the trick he had used before since he still didn't want to risk Captain Mitchell finding out about the fact that he was a Ranger.

"Call to the spirit within, free the Tiger!" he called as he quickly went through the Tiger stances and unleashed his Tiger Spirit upon Olympius. However, Olympius managed to dodge the attack and responded by attacking him with bolts of lightning which struck him on the chest. The attack forced Casey to his knees as Carter continued to fight Arachnos behind him.

"Casey, damn it! Just run!" Ryan exclaimed as he struggled to try to free himself from the sticky ropes.

Casey looked to Ryan from where he knelt and he knew then that they had been right. The time for secrets was indeed over. Carter and Ryan, over the past two years, had become his closest friends at the Lightspeed Aquabase and he couldn't just abandon them to Olympius and Arachnos despite the fact that he didn't want Captain Mitchell to find out he was a Ranger.

_To hell with Captain Mitchell, I've just got to morph otherwise Olympius will destroy them. _Casey thought grimly as he got back up_. My friends have, and always will be, the most important thing to me. It has just taken a life-threatening situation for me to realise this fact._

"Well, aren't you going to run and make this more interesting?" Olympius asked.

"I'm done with running and hiding, Olympius," Casey replied simply as he took out his Solar Morpher from the pouch which he had kept it in upon his belt and put it on. "I've still got a few tricks hidden up my sleeves. And, unfortunately for you, this is one of them."

Olympius laughed at this.

"What harm can a pair of weird sunglasses do to me?" Olympius asked. Casey's lips curled up into a smile at this.

"You're not looking closely enough, Olympius," he warned. "An ordinary pair of sunglasses are obviously going to do you no harm. However, these are no ordinary pair of sunglasses."

"So, what are they then?" Olympius asked as he continued to laugh evilly.

"Why don't you guess, Olympius?" Casey replied as he activated the morpher. There were a few tense moments of silence before it beeped to signal to him that it was charged and ready. "What makes the humans which you despise the most what they are?"

Olympius turned pale. "That thing can't be..." he began before he turned to Arachnos. "Stop this fool!"

Arachnos instantly charged at Casey at Olympius's command but it was already too late.

"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" he called as he moved into the stances to activate his morpher.

Then, in a spectacular show of skill, Casey rapidly went through the Tiger Stances one by one until he morphed. As soon as he morphed, the Shark Sabers appeared in both of his hands so he was able to block Arachnos's attack easily.

"Olympius, you're mine!" Casey exclaimed as he quickly used his Shark Sabers to easily destroy Arachnos before he leapt high into the air so that he could launch a powerful attack. Olympius, however, dodged it and they quickly became locked in combat once more. Casey and Olympius battled intensely back and forth whilst Carter went to help Ryan. Both members of Lightspeed Rescue were watching Casey hold his own against Olympius in shock since neither of them had ever suspected that Casey could be a fellow Power Ranger.

"I would never have guessed that you were a Power Ranger," Olympius said grudgingly as they fought back and forth.

"It's not something that I liked to publicise, you know," Casey replied. "You should have taken that chance I gave you, Olympius. You should've ran back to your mother because now I'm going to make you regret ever crossing my path."

"You're not powerful enough to destroy me," Olympius countered.

"You don't know that," he countered as they continued to fight back and forth. "I've fought and destroyed villains three times more powerful than you before."

"Casey!" Carter and Ryan both called as Carter managed to get Ryan free of the sticky ropes. "You can't..."

This distracted Casey for a brief moment and allowed Olympius to land a blow which cast the Shark Sabers to one side and struck Casey upon the shoulder. Casey grimaced in pain but, before Olympius could land another blow, Casey leapt back out of the way.

"You're done for now," Olympius cackled.

"No, I'm not," Casey replied as a Claw Booster appeared in his hand which he quickly struck with his free hand. "Jungle Master Mode!"

He instantly morphed into his Jungle Master Mode and smiled as he leapt at Olympius again. This time, he somehow managed to break Olympius's sword into three bits rendering it completely useless and Olympius defenceless.

"You're the one that is done, Olympius," Casey countered. "Like all of the villains that I've faced before, your arrogance has become your downfall."

"No! You'll never..." Olympius began.

Casey never even let him finish as he rapidly dealt several powerful slashes in succession using his Claw Booster to Olympius in order to finish him off. As the demon was turned to dust by the subsequent explosion that Casey's attack caused, both Carter and Ryan rushed to him.

"Casey, we..." Carter and Ryan began. However, they were firmly interrupted by Olympius reappearing again after the demon had grown to a massive size.

"Now, I'll squash you fool!" Olympius said evilly as he slowly began to advance towards the three of them.

_Damn..._ Casey thought grimly as he backed away with Carter and Ryan.


	12. Dreams of The Tiger: Call To The Kindred

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe 

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Dreams of The Tiger: Call To The Kindred

By Lauraac2110

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very, very early in the morning, several minutes later_

"Move!" Casey exclaimed in warning as he spun around and grabbed Carter and Ryan's arms before he quickly dragged them out of the way to prevent them from being badly injured as Olympius tried to squash them under his foot.

"Man, I really wish I had my Pyro Rescue 1 right now," Carter exclaimed as they backed away from Olympius as fast as they possibly could. "Or even one of the other Zords."

Casey blinked at this as he closed his eyes for a moment whilst he continued to back up with Carter and Ryan.

_The time for secrets is over. _Casey reminded himself firmly. _I'm surprised that I didn't think of my Tiger Spirit sooner. And it also appears to be the only way that we're going to get out of here alive._

He opened his eyes again.

"Carter, Ryan, I need both of you to move as far away from me as you possibly can," Casey said grimly as he stopped backing away from Olympius.

"What? Why?" Ryan exclaimed.

"There's no time to explain," Casey replied as Olympius drew ever closer to him. "Now that you know what I am, can you please trust me just this once? I'll explain everything later, I swear."

Ryan and Carter looked at him for a long moment before they nodded.

"All right, let's go, Ryan," Carter said grimly as both of them fled away from Casey. Once Casey was sure that they were a safe distance away from him, he closed his eyes and frowned in deep concentration. Olympius was almost upon him by this point.

Seconds later, a grin spread across his face as he felt that the Tiger Spirit within him was ready to battle Olympius. He then moved into the appropriate stances to call forth his animal spirit.

"Call to the spirit within, free the Tiger!" he called as he unleashed his Tiger Spirit. The Tiger Spirit instantly leapt out from Casey's hands in response and it growled threateningly as it raised its hackles.

Casey opened his eyes.

"Here goes nothing," Casey thought grimly as he leapt into the Tiger Spirit. From there, he readied himself for a difficult battle against a powerful foe.

"Before you can get to my friends, you will have to go through me first, Olympius," Casey said firmly.

"Even with your Zord, Ranger, you are no match for me," Olympius scoffed.

"We'll see," Casey countered as Olympius attacked with a powerful blow that the Tiger Spirit easily dodged. The Tiger Spirit then struck back, snarling as it leapt at Olympius, but the Prince of the Demons dodged its attack as well.

As they quickly became embroiled in a heated battle, with the Tiger Spirit easily dancing around Olympius as the demon tried to land several powerful blows here and there, Carter and Ryan watched from relative safety behind one of the nearby sand dunes in awe. The Tiger Spirit looked their way for a moment to make sure that they were both safe before it returned to dancing around Olympius.

_I just desperately hope that I'm strong enough to defeat Olympius on my own... _ Casey thought as the Tiger Spirit dodged yet another powerful blow from Olympius before it launched yet another counter-attack back.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very, very early in the morning, at that very moment_

An exhausted Theo wearily lay in the makeshift tent whilst, unbeknown to him, his close friend was fighting for his life against a powerful demons miles away at that moment. Beside him, Lily was still unconscious although she was now better than she had been only a few hours before.

The bowl of water nearby was empty now since Theo had used all of it to keep Lily cool. Despite the fact that he was somewhat thirsty, Theo didn't care about the loss of water though.

No, what mattered most to him was that Lily remained alive. And, since she was, he didn't mind that he would go thirsty for yet another night since Lily was more important to him. Like all the times that he had gone thirsty before, he would survive until they were given another bowl of water again without too much difficulty.

He sighed. Life was hard but all that mattered to him was Lily. As he closed his eyes, he desperately once again hoped that someone would find him soon before she got any worse.

Minutes later, he was fast asleep.

_Dreamworld, Spirit Jungle_

_As I find myself standing upon the Rhino Nexus in the Spirit Jungle, I'm confused._

_It has been a long time since I've dreamt of this place and, even then, I've never dreamed of it this vividly before._

"_Theo?" she says hesitantly from behind me. I turn to see Lily standing behind me with a look of similar confusion upon her face. "Are you dreaming this too?"_

_I nod. It seems that this is more than a dream if Lily is sharing this dream with me. _

"_I wonder why we are here," I muse quietly aloud as I look around in curiousity._

"_You are here, Theo, because Casey Rhodes is in grave danger right now and needs your help to survive," a voice answers from behind us. Lily and I turn to see Master Mao standing behind us with a grim expression upon his face._

"_Master Mao? Casey's alive?" both Lily and I reply in shock. After that day two years ago, we had feared the worst for our close friend since no one had heard anything about him anywhere which meant that he was either dead or had escaped the invasion. We had chosen to believe the first of the two options since it was seriously unlikely that he had made it to Corinth City because he had stayed behind to hold off the Grinders to give us and RJ a chance to escape._

"_Yes, Casey is alive," Master Mao confirms. "Another group of Power Rangers found him and rescued him from the Grinders two years ago. After they nursed him back to health, he hid the fact that he was a Ranger from them because of the fact that he felt that he couldn't trust them. Until now, that is."_

"_How is he in danger?" I ask once I finally snap out of my shocked state after a few moments of silence._

"_As we speak, Casey is currently fighting for his life against a powerful demon in his Tiger Spirit to protect two of his friends," Master Mao answers grimly. "Despite his valiant efforts, he is currently losing desperately since his Tiger Spirit isn't strong enough to take on the demon that he is facing on his own."_

"_How are we supposed to help him?" Lily asks. _

"_You need to send your Cheetah and Jaguar spirits to his aid," Master Mao answers as he grimaces. "Without them, Casey will likely be killed."_

_Lily and I look at each other for a moment. Both of us can see the determination shining in each other's eyes and I know, for certainty, that there is only one answer that both of us can give to Master Mao since Casey was, and still is, our closest friend._

"_I speak for both Lily and I when I say that Casey is our friend and that we'll do anything we can to help him," I reply with determination. "How are we to summon our spirits to his side?"_

"_It will be a difficult test of your skills," Master Mao admits. "Once you are in a meditative state, you will need to focus completely upon Casey and will your spirits to his aid."_

_Master Mao pauses for a moment before he smiles._

"_I believe, however, that Pai Zhua masters should be able to successfully do it, though. Don't you?" he continues._

_Lily and I nod._

_Master Mao grimaces at that moment as he takes on a distant look for a few moments before he closes his eyes._

"_You don't have a lot of time left to send Casey aid," Master Mao warns. "I wish both of you good luck."_

_With that, he vanishes into thin air before either of us can stop him. Just then, the dream vanishes in a flash of white light._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very early in the morning, some time later_

As Lily and Theo awoke with a sharp gasp, both of them had worried expressions upon their faces. Weakly, Lily tried to haul herself into a sitting position but Theo, in the end, had to help her to sit up.

"Lily, are you sure that you want to do this?" Theo asked. "You're not in the best of health, you know. I could..."

Lily looked to him with her pain-filled eyes to silence him.

"We have to do this, Theo," Lily stated firmly. "Casey _has _to live."

She paused for a moment as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Please, Theo," she begged. "We have to do this together since Casey will likely need the Jungle Pride Megazord to defeat this demon that he is facing as we speak. It is why both of us had that dream and not only you."

Reluctantly, Theo nodded.

"All right, Lily, we'll do this together," he conceded.

She smiled sadly at him before both of them got into a meditative stance on the floor as they entered a state of deep concentration.

_We're coming Casey. _Theo thought as both of them closed their eyes as they started to concentrate upon Casey so that they could send their animal spirits to him. _Just hold on._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very early in the morning, several minutes later_

As the Tiger Spirit fell under the onslaught of savage blows from Olympius, Carter and Ryan watched horrified from their position behind one of the nearby sand dunes in horror.

"Casey, no!" Carter and Ryan both yelled as Olympius put his foot firmly upon the Tiger's chest to prevent it from getting back up again before he proceeded to try to crush it underfoot.

Within the Tiger Spirit, Casey gasped in agony as he clutched his chest as pain shot through his entire body. Weakly, he fell to his knees as he closed his eyes for a moment. However, he opened them again as he heard two feral cries.

_No, it can't be..._ Casey thought in shock as Olympius turned to see two brilliant animal spirits forming in the midst of a spectacular burst of white light in the horizon.


	13. Chapter 5: Never Forget

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe 

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Chapter 5: Never Forget

by Lauraac2110

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very early in the morning, several minutes later_

As the light subsided, Casey was in shock.

It was them. The Cheetah and Jaguar spirits which meant...

_I have to be hallucinating. _Casey thought firmly. _They're not here._

Within the Cheetah and Jaguar spirits, the spiritual forms of Theo and Lily, in their Ranger forms, stood defiantly ready to do battle with Olympius to protect their friend. With feral snarls, the Cheetah and the Jaguar spirits moved as one as they leapt at Olympius to knock him off of the Tiger Spirit. Then, both spirits took up defensive positions at the Tiger Spirit's side as it limped back onto its feet.

"Animal spirits, unite as one!" Lily and Theo called together which caused the three Spirits to combine together to form the Jungle Pride Megazord.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, Jungle Pride Megazord cockpit, very early in the morning, a minute or so later_

Inside the Megazord, a very pale Casey knelt where he had fallen as the spiritual forms of Theo and Lily appeared in the cockpit with him. Casey looked at them both with wide, pain-filled, eyes.

"I have to be hallucinating," Casey said quietly to them. "You can't be here."

Lily laughed helplessly at this whilst Theo looked at him with an amused expression.

"You are definitely _not_ hallucinating, Casey," Theo reassured. "We are here. Sort of."

"Yeah, we're definitely here," Lily agreed as she and Theo gently wrapped their hands around Casey's arms to help him back up onto his feet. Then, the three Jungle Fury Rangers embraced fondly.

By this point, tears were streaming down Casey's cheeks.

"How..." he began.

"Our spirits and minds are here, Casey, but our real bodies are not," Theo explained. "These bodies are just..."

"Our minds represented in physical forms," Lily supplied helpfully.

"So we're not truly here," Theo continued. "You have Master Mao to thank for our presence here. If he hadn't came to us in a dream and warned us about the fact that you were in grave danger, you would likely have been killed by the demon by now."

Casey opened his mouth to speak at that moment but, before he could ask them where their bodies were, Olympius interrupted him.

"How did you pull this trick off?" the Prince of the Demons demanded as he advanced towards the Jungle Pride Megazord. The three Jungle Fury Rangers broke apart at this.

"Just who is that guy anyway?" Theo asked curiously. Casey smiled.

"That is Olympius, Prince of the Demons, son of Queen Bansheera and general of her armies," Casey said grimly. "Bansheera is sort of the equivalent of Dai Shi here. And Olympius is like Camille, the right hand, although he is much nastier from what little I've heard of him before now."

Theo blinked at this and whistled.

"You always seem to attract the worst sort of trouble, Casey," Theo smiled. "You haven't changed a bit."

Casey laughed at this before his expression turned sorrowful.

"I've changed a great deal over the past two years," he said quietly. "More so than most people know."

"Guys, now is not the time for a reunion," Lily reminded them. "We're facing a powerful demon right now, remember?"

Both Theo and Casey blinked at this before all three of them turned their attention back onto the battle at hand.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very early in the morning, at that very moment_

"Well?" Olympius demanded.

"The strong bonds between my closest friends and I called them to my aid," Casey answered with a smile upon his face even though tears were still streaming down his face. "It's a concept that you'll never be able to understand, Olympius, because you have no friends. You only have your underlings."

"Your friends cannot change your fate," Olympius cackled insanely. "I will destroy you."

"The strong bonds between the three of us are more powerful than anything _you _could throw at us," Casey countered. "I'd like to see you try to destroy me now, Olympius."

"Insolent fool!" Olympius thundered. "You will be destroyed."

With that, Olympius charged at the Jungle Pride Megazord. Within minutes, it quickly became locked in a heated battle with Olympius as it dodged and blocked the various kicks, punches and other attacks that Olympius launched at it whilst it tried to land counter-attacks using its weapon, the Jungle Setsukon, unsuccessfully.

Eventually, Casey decided that they were getting nowhere as they were both equally matched. Olympius was dodging all of their blows whilst the Jungle Pride Megazord was dodging all of his blows leaving both sides in a sort of limbo. The battle between both of them could not, of course, go on indefinitely but, as it was now, Olympius still looked as if he would come out on top since Casey was tiring considerably and, since his entire body was still in agony, he knew that he wouldn't last much longer.

The Red Jungle Fury Ranger knew that he had to find a way to turn the tide of the battle to their favour. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to do so and couldn't quite think clearly because of how much pain he was in. After another few minutes, though, an idea which would work greatly to their advantage suddenly popped into his head as Olympius tried to use the sea around them to his advantage but he failed miserably when, once again, the Jungle Pride Megazord dodged his attack.

"Guys, I think that we should be taking a leaf out of Olympius's book," Casey said with a small smile. Theo and Lily looked at him with an expression of confusion so he decided to explain as he continued with, "He used our surroundings to his advantage so we should use our surroundings to _our _advantage by summoning the Shark Spirit to end this battle."

Theo and Lily blinked at this before both of them chuckled.

"We're with you, Casey," Theo and Lily assured. Casey nodded.

"Olympius, you've just made your last mistake," Casey vowed defiantly as the three Jungle Fury Rangers moved into position to summon the Shark Spirit to their aid. "Together as one."

"Calling upon the spirit of the Shark," the three Jungle Fury Rangers called as they summoned the Shark Spirit which flew out of the Jungle Pride Megazord and high into the air in front of it. "Spirit of the Shark, combine."

At that moment, the Shark Spirit fused with the Jungle Pride Megazord to form the Jungle Pride Megazord with Shark Power. Almost as soon as the Shark had combined with it, the Jungle Pride Megazord with its newly gained Shark Power launched a powerful spin attack to knock Olympius into the water.

In the subsequent few minutes after Olympius had fallen into the sea, it was clear that the tide of the battle had turned in their favour. Whilst the Jungle Pride Megazord with Shark Power could easily dodge, or block with its fins, the powerful blows that Olympius unleashed against it, Olympius struggled to block the blows that the Jungle Pride Megazord with Shark Power unleashed against him.

Eventually, Casey knew that it was time for them to end the battle. Olympius had been worn down considerably and, if they didn't act soon to end this, the Prince of the Demons would likely flee. Casey definitely didn't want that to happen at all since Olympius could cause the Lightspeed Aquabase a massive problem later if he was allowed to escape.

He looked to Lily and Theo, who had determined grimaces upon their faces as if they knew exactly what he was thinking at that moment, and nodded to them.

"Let's remove Olympius from the picture," he said firmly. "And conclude this battle."

With that, they launched their finishing move, a rapid spin attack, against Olympius. The Prince of the Demons tried to block it, since he couldn't dodge it because he was so exhausted, but his measly defence failed miserably as he was hit full on by the attack.

"No!" he screamed in fury when he was thrown out of the water and high into the air as the Jungle Pride Megazord with Shark Power shot out from under the waves nearby. "Ranger, my mother will destroy you for this!"

"I do not fear Bansheera," Casey replied coldly. "If she tries to destroy me, I'm pretty sure that she'll meet her own end. Goodbye, Olympius."

Seconds later, Olympius was destroyed in a powerful explosion as the Shark Spirit broke free of the Jungle Pride Megazord and launched itself at him in a spin attack of its own.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, Jungle Pride Megazord cockpit, very early in the morning, a few seconds later_

With a sharp gasp inside the Jungle Pride Megazord just as Olympius was destroyed, Casey powered down and, whilst clutching his chest, fell foward onto his knees in agony as pain shot throughout his entire body.

"Casey!" both Lily and Theo cried out in alarm as they tried to catch him. To their shock, and Casey's horror, he passed right through their arms. Casey looked up to them, with tears in his eyes, to see that both of them were fading rapidly.

"Please, don't go! Don't leave me," Casey begged. Both Lily and Theo looked at him with sad expressions as they realised that their time was up.

"We have no choice, Casey," Lily said quietly. "Our task here is completed. We've saved your life."

"And, now, we're going back to our bodies once again with our animal spirits," Theo continued.

"But..." Casey began. Lily silenced him.

"Casey, no, we have to go," Lily said firmly. "We have no choice. We were never completely here in the first place."

Casey looked away from them for a moment as more tears streamed down his face.

"I'm sorry, I just..." he began.

"We know," Theo said sadly in reassurance. "We know."

Silence prevailed for several moments before, grimly, Lily broke it.

"Casey, before we go, there's something that you need to know. We're currently in a canyon prison camp somewhere in the desert, labouring away for the Grinders, and my health has been deteriorating over the past two years," Lily said quietly. "Both Theo and I desperately need help, Casey."

"I'll find both of you, I swear on my honour as a Pai Zhua Master," Casey vowed. "I swear that I'll start searching as soon as I can and that I won't stop until I've found both of you. No matter what."

Lily and Theo smiled sadly at this.

"We're fairly positive that you'll be able to find us, Casey," Theo and Lily assured. "You're a Pai Zhua Master. And..."

"Pai Zhua masters do not need to think," Casey finished with a weak smile. "They know what must be done and when it must be done for."

Theo and Lily laughed helplessly at this as they faded even further.

"Never forget us, Casey, no matter what," both of them whispered just as they vanished.

"I never have," Casey said weakly. "And I never will..."

Then, as another burst of agony shot through his entire body, Casey suddenly passed out.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very early in the morning, at that very moment_

As they watched the three Spirit Zords vanish, and heard a loud splash, both Carter and Ryan knew that Casey was in serious trouble.

Before Carter could react, Ryan did. He instantly got up and ran onto the beach. Then, he stopped at the edge of the water to quickly scan the area for any sign of Casey. When Ryan couldn't see any signs of Casey, he dived into the sea after the Red Jungle Fury Ranger as Carter came running onto the beach after him.

For a few tense moments, Carter watched and waited as there were no signs of either Casey or Ryan until, finally, Ryan resurfaced, gasping for breath, with an unconscious Casey in his arms. Without any help from Carter, Ryan managed to drag Casey onto the beach. Then, once they had both confirmed that Casey was still alive, if only barely, both he and Carter quickly tried to get as much of the fluid out of Casey's lungs as they possibly could.

After that, they waited to see if Casey would return to consciousness. Casey surprised them both, a minute or so later, as he shot up, gasping for breath, before he quickly descended into a coughing fit to get the last of the water out of his lungs.

"Thanks, Ryan," Casey said weakly after a few moments once the coughing fit had subsided as he took off his Solar Morpher and put it away in his belt. "I can safely say that you saved my life."

Both Carter and Ryan smiled in relief at this as tears started to form in Casey's eyes as he thought of Theo and Lily.

"Casey, we..." Carter began hesitantly before he stopped since he appeared unsure of what to say. Casey knew what he was trying to say anyway, though, so Carter didn't have to finish his sentence. Both he and Ryan wanted to know the truth now and, given what had happened, they had the right to demand it from him.

_The time for secrets is past._ Casey reminded himself.

He then sighed as the tears streamed down his cheeks whilst both Carter and Ryan looked on in concern.

"You want to know everything," Casey stated calmly before he looked down at the sand. "It's painful for me to even think about what I've lost but, after what happened, I believe that you have a right to want to know the truth."

He then took off the soaking wet backpack from his back and tossed it onto the sand nearby whilst only barely managing to prevent himself from hissing in agony as pain shot through his entire body. Fortunately, neither Carter or Ryan appeared to notice that Casey had been quite badly hurt by Olympius which he was glad for since he didn't want to worry them.

"I'll tell you everything over some breakfast," Casey finally said wearily. "However, like everything connected to Power Rangers, my life has had many good moments and equally as many bad moments so I warn you that a lot of my story won't be pleasant."

Ryan and Carter nodded quietly as they took out a bottle of water each and some food before they began to devour their breakfast. Once Casey had managed to get himself into a comfortable position, ready to talk about his life without hiding anything from them for the first time, he spoke.

"If my story begins anywhere, I think it would be on the day when I joined the Pai Zhua Academy," Casey said quietly. "Of my past before then, all I will say is that it is not very pleasant. Pai Zhua offered a way out. A way that I gladly took and, to this day, I've never regretted doing so. For you see..."

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, very early in the morning, at that very moment_

A grim Theo sat next to an unconscious Lily in the makeshift tent at that very moment. Almost as soon as they had returned to their bodies, she had collapsed and, currently, she was in a worse state than she had ever been before.

He wished that she hadn't sent her mind and Cheetah Spirit to Casey's aid. However, he knew that there had been no other way to ensure that Casey lived.

He sighed at that moment. He had no idea how long she would be unconscious for and, until she woke up, he was going to have to hide the fact that her health had deteriorated from the Grinders once again. He was glad that he had already had so much practice at hiding Lily's condition otherwise Lily would likely be in great danger at that very moment.

As he decided to get some rest, he clung to the hope that Casey would find them soon before it was too late to save Lily as he closed his eyes.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, early in the morning, some time later_

"... Lily and Theo told me never to forget them before they vanished," Casey admitted quietly. "To be honest, I never have and never will forget my old friends. They are the closest thing to family that I've ever really had."

"And they are also you fellow team-mates," Carter added in. "Like your other two team-mates and friends... RJ and Dominic."

Casey nodded as he closed his eyes and wiped the last of his tears that he had shed for Theo and Lily away.

"Yeah," he admitted quietly. "Carter, Ryan, I intend to leave to find both Lily and Theo."

"Casey, we know that you want to find your friends but wouldn't it be better if..." Ryan began.

"You don't have to convince me, Ryan, I will be returning to the Aquabase before I go," Casey reassured. "As much as I dislike your father, I'm going to need his help to locate Theo and Lily. Even though I know, roughly, where they are since I'm a Pai Zhua master, I'm going to need his help, and yours, to rescue them."

Carter and Ryan sighed in relief at this.

"We'll help you, Casey," Ryan and Carter assured him before the three of them fell silent.

During the silence, the three of them finished breakfast and quenched their thirst before Casey reluctantly got onto his feet. Once again, he successfully managed to conceal his hiss in agony as pain shot throughout his entire body.

"We had better start heading back to the Aquabase," Casey said grimly as Ryan and Carter followed suit. "I definitely want to get back there as soon as possible."

Carter and Ryan grimaced in agreement and, together, the three of them set off for the Aquabase with small smiles upon their faces as they animatedly talked about various things relating to Power Rangers as they went.

_Somewhere in the Ruins of Mariner Bay, Skull Caverns, Throne Room, early morning, at that very moment_

"No! My son!" Bansheera wailed in grief. Apprehensively, Diabolico, Loki and Vypra watched from where they stood nearby as Queen Bansheera grieved for her lost son, Olympius, who they assumed had to have been destroyed by the Power Rangers. They had been hastily summoned to the Throne Room some time ago, by Batlings who were afraid for the Queen, after tremors had shook Skull Caverns. Since then, they had quietly watched Bansheera as she had destroyed everything in sight in her grief.

"My Queen..." Diabolico began in an attempt to pacify her after she nearly hit them with a powerful bolt of energy.

She turned to the three demons who, up until now, she hadn't been aware of with a ferocious expression upon her face.

"Leave me," she exclaimed furiously. The three demons fled from the Throne Room at that moment as her grief turned into unrestrained fury.

"When the ones responsible for the death of my son is found, I will have my revenge and they will pay for taking my son from me," she proclaimed aloud to herself as she settled down onto her throne to plot her revenge.


	14. Chapter 6: Consequences

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe 

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Chapter 6: Consequences

by Lauraac2110

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, mid-morning, some time later_

"... Casey, I don't think that the others will believe us when we tell them about what happened," Carter was saying as they walked down the final stretch of the beach. "In fact, I'm certain that you will have to morph to prove to them that we're telling the truth."

Casey, who barely concealed a pained expression as pain once again shot through his entire body at that moment, just nodded in reply before Carter rushed off ahead of them. Both he and Ryan quickly moved to rush after Carter but, after a few steps, Casey suddenly stopped in his tracks with a grim expression upon his face as a sense of wrongness washed over him.

Ryan, who quickly realised that Casey had stopped, turned to him.

"Is everything all right, Casey?" Ryan asked.

"No," Casey replied grimly. "Something is wrong. Come on."

Both of them continued to rush after Carter at that moment and, when they finally reached the emergency entrance into the Aquabase, both of them found Carter grimly staring at the mangled remains of what had once been the door lying, discarded, at one side of the cavern. From the twisted hinges and, the scorch marks, it was quite clear to all three of them that the door had been blown open by explosives placed at its hinges recently since the doors was still smouldering.

"I hate it when I'm right about certain things," Casey muttered.

"What happened here?" Ryan wondered aloud.

"Bansheera's minions did this," Casey said grimly. "The demons must have already carried out that attack which I warned all of you about."

"And, with the three of us out of the way, the demons will have had the advantage. This is not good," Carter said grimly as he and Ryan turned pale before both of them rushed into the Aquabase with Casey following after them in hot pursuit.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, mid-morning, some time later_

When all three of them arrived in the Command Centre, slightly out of breath, some time later, they were extremely worried. All of the corridors that they had passed through had been completely deserted so far and, here and there, Casey had noticed an occasional scorch mark or scrape on the wall as he tried to keep up with Carter and Ryan who weren't paying any attention to their surroundings.

They became exceptionally worried, though, when they saw the state of the room. All of the equipment had been utterly destroyed, chairs had been overturned and, on top of that, there were numerous bits of paper scattered across the floor. There were also numerous scorch marks on the wall and Casey swore that he could also smell the rusty scent of blood as well.

Ryan grimaced at that moment as he stared at the destruction.

"This is really bad," he said grimly. "And rather eerie. The Command Centre is _never _supposed to be left empty. Something _very _serious has happened."

"Perhaps Captain Mitchell's office will hold some answers," Casey suggested. Carter nodded.

"A sensible suggestion. Come on," Carter said as all three of them left the Command Centre to get to Captain Mitchell's office.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Captain Mitchell's Office, mid-morning, several minutes later_

Casey was the last to enter Captain Mitchell's office and, when he did, he found Ryan and Carter staring in horror at the wall behind the Captain's desk. Grimly, Casey followed their gaze and a chill crawled up his spine at what he saw.

There, written in slightly dried in blood, was a chilling message which appeared to have been left behind specifically for Carter and Ryan to find.

"Beware, Red Ranger, Titanium Ranger, we will be coming for you next. You are an enemy of Queen Bansheera and all of her subjects. And you will pay very dearly for opposing her rule very soon," Casey said aloud as he read the message before he grimaced. "Well, I guess that this proves without a doubt that the demons did attack the Aquabase as I warned they would."

"I wonder whether the blood is genuine or not," Carter mused aloud. "And, if it is genuine, I wonder whose blood the demons used."

Casey, carefully, went over to the blood and sniffed it before he took on a disgusted look as he turned to them.

"Oh, it's genuine all right," Casey assured them grimly. "And, because of my talents, I just so happen to _know _that it is Captain Mitchell's blood."

Both Carter and Ryan's horrified expressions intensified as Casey took on a look of concern.

"Judging by the amount of blood on the wall, I would say that Captain Mitchell has lost a lot of blood from a rather deep wound," he continued grimly. "So he's going to be rather weak wherever he is right now although I doubt very much that the wound will have been deep enough for him to be in danger of dying of blood loss any time soon. The demons will definitely have wanted to capture him alive."

For a moment, Ryan and Carter just gaped at Casey before Ryan sighed.

"I don't think we're ever going to get used to your talents, Casey," he admitted.

Casey smiled sadly at both of them.

"Pai Zhua masters have unrivalled instincts," Casey reminded them. "We always know what must be done and when it must be done for."

For several moments, silence reigned in the room until both Ryan and Carter looked away from the bloodstained wall before they could be sick as the original horror wore off and a wave of nausea swept over them both. Carter then took on a commanding presence as a serious expression crossed his face whilst he desperately tried to put the bloodstained wall behind him out of his mind.

"Here's what we're going to do," Carter said firmly. "We're going to split up and search the Aquabase for any signs of life. Ryan, you and Casey will search one half of the Aquabase whilst I search the other. Once I've finished searching my half of the Aquabase, I'll then make sure that the Zords and Miss Rawlings's lab are secure. We'll meet here when we're both finished. Understand?"

Ryan and Casey nodded before all three of them split up and went their separate ways.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, late morning, some time later_

The canteen was the last room that Carter had to search on his side of the Aquabase. So far, he was yet to find any sign of anyone but, as he had searched, he had come across lots of signs of a fierce battle with scorch marks prevalent in most corridors. On top of that, almost all of the furniture in all of the rooms had either been overturned or damaged badly.

In the canteen, though, he found a scene of complete devastation. The tables were smouldering piles of splintered wood with numerous scorch marks on the walls and floor. On top of that, lots of personal items which he recognised as the treasured belongings of some of the youngest members of the Aquabase personnel were lying strewn across the floor. Carter guessed that the children that they had rescued on that fateful day two years ago had taken refuge here in the canteen when the demons had attacked and had obviously been found by the demons.

His theory, though, was confirmed when he found Dana's morpher lying at one side of the room amongst the personal items which suggested that she had been the one assigned to protect them. Grimly, Carter picked it up and pocketed it before he sighed.

Now that he had searched all of the rooms on his side of the Aquabase, it was time for him to check whether the Zords and Miss Rawlings's lab were secure or not.

As he left the Canteen, he didn't notice the demon enter the canteen from the other entrance behind him. Nor did he notice that said demon quickly followed after him with a malicious grin upon his face.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Medical Bay, late morning, at that very moment_

"Dana is so not going to be happy when she sees this," Ryan said grimly as they surveyed the damage in the Medical Bay. Fortunately, though, all of the equipment in the room lay undamaged and, on top of that, the medicine cabinet had not been disturbed. Otherwise, though, it was a complete mess with medical records strewn all over the floor along with all of the blankets, bandages and emergency medical kits that had been kept in the cupboard.

"I know," Casey replied as he grimaced. "I'll definitely be making sure that I am _not _in her general vicinity when she finds out that the demons have trashed her Medical Bay. Fortunately for us, though, they have _not _destroyed any of the equipment or the medicines so almost all of the damage that they _have_ caused can be fixed but Dana probably won't see it like that."

Ryan flinched at this and nodded in agreement. Then, both of them carefully stepped over the mess as they ventured further into the room so that they could continue to survey the damage. After surveying the damage to the room for several minutes, Ryan managed to open the door into one of the adjacent rooms at that moment and went through to see if anyone was hiding in there on his own since Casey chose not to follow after him.

As soon as Ryan was out of sight, Casey winced in agony as pain shot through his entire body again. Olympius had definitely hurt him badly during their battle that morning and, judging by the pain he was in every time he took a breath, Casey guessed that he probably either had some cracked ribs at best or several broken ones at worst.

If he didn't have such a high pain tolerance from both his time as a Ranger and his time here, at the Aquabase, recovering from that fateful day two years ago, he definitely would have been unconscious by now. As it was, he was still standing despite being both utterly exhausted and in agony.

He grimaced as he went over to the medicine cabinet where he quickly found the large bottle of painkillers after a short search. If he was going to keep going until the danger had past, he was definitely going to need to function without being in pain. Especially if he didn't want Carter or Ryan to find out that he was injured and leave him behind.

After quickly making sure that Ryan was still busy in the other room, Casey unscrewed the lid of the bottle, took out a small handful of painkillers and swallowed one before slipping the rest into his pocket in case he needed them later. He then quickly sealed the bottle shut and put it back into the cabinet just before Ryan came back into the room.

"Well?" Casey asked grimly.

Ryan shook his head.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just like all of the other rooms that we've searched so far, there is no sign of any of the Aquabase personnel."

Casey sighed.

"To be honest, Ryan, I'm honestly starting to instinctively believe that we won't find anyone else in the Aquabase," Casey admitted. "However, we are still going to have to search the remaining rooms just in case my instincts are wrong."

"Casey, when have your instincts ever been wrong?" Ryan countered. Casey didn't reply to this, mainly because he wasn't sure of the answer, so Ryan sighed and gave in. "All right, let's go."

With that, both of them left the Medical Bay to continue searching the remaining rooms that they had to search.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Zord hangar, early afternoon, some time later_

A worried Carter stood in front of the door Zord hangar with a grim expression upon his face preparing himself for the worst some time later. Miss Rawlings's lab had been utterly destroyed, as he had found to his horror when he had checked it before coming here, despite the fact that it had some of the best defences in the entire Aquabase which were second only to the defences that surrounded the Zord hangar.

There were plenty of signs that the demons had tried to get into the Zord hangar around the blackened titanium door since the walls were badly scorched in places and, on top of that, remnants of explosives lay scattered throughout the corridor.

Dreading what he would find inside of the hangar, Carter finally finished preparing himself for the worst and sighed before he held up his morpher to the scanner at the side of the door. Fortunately, the scanner was still working despite the damage it had sustained so it managed to scan his morpher before it proceeded to open the door for him once it had confirmed that he was authorized to access the hangar.

Relief washed through Carter when he slowly entered the hangar to find that the defences had, in fact, held since all of the Zords were still there. On top of that, all of them were completely undamaged which suggested that the demons had not been able to breach the hangar's defences.

Carter sighed in relief. At least, this time, the Zords were completely safe and not in the hands of Bansheera's minions.

"I must thank you, Red Ranger, for being foolish enough to have disabled the protections around the Zords," a voice said gleefully from behind him. "The other Rangers refused to do it and nothing we tried would let us into this hangar."

A cold chill ran down Carter's spine as he whirled around to face the source of the voice who stood in the doorway with a malicious grin upon his face.

Jinxer.

Carter growled.

"Where is everyone? What have you done?" Carter demanded.

"Now, now, Red Ranger," Jinxer said gleefully. "They're perfectly fine for now. Although that might change soon now that you've disabled the protections around your precious machines. And you'll be joining your friends soon enough."

"We'll see about that, Jinxer," Carter replied as he got into a fighting stance before activated his morpher as he called, "Lightspeed, Rescue!"

Once he had morphed, he drew out his Rescue Blaster and fired at Jinxer to force him back into the corridor. Then, Carter and Jinxer became locked in a desperate battle as Carter tried to force Jinxer away from the Zord hangar.

Eventually, Carter managed to knock Jinxer to the ground and, before the demon could stop him, he held up his morpher to the scanner.

"No!" Jinxer exclaimed as the titanium door slid shut again. As Jinxer launched himself desperately at Carter, the Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger used his Rescue Blaster to destroy the scanner to ensure that Jinxer could not gain access to the Zords no matter what happened.

Enraged by this action, Jinxer used his cane-like blaster to deal Carter a powerful blow to the chest before Carter could defend himself which caused him to power down in agony whilst clutching his shoulder. He was then thrown back into the scorched wall by Jinxer who had an expression of unrestrained fury upon his face.

"You made a great mistake when you did that, Red Ranger," Jinxer said coldly. Carter grimaced in pain as his face took on an expression of defiance.

"No matter what happens, I will not let you nor any of Bansheera's other minions get your hands upon our Zords again," Carter replied defiantly. "I don't think that preventing you from causing great destruction was a "great mistake" on my part, Jinxer, and I'm sure that my friends agree with me."

"You will not be able to save your friends, now, Red Ranger," Jinxer warned threateningly. "Unless you tell me about any other ways into that Zord hangar, that is."

"I'll never tell you a thing," Carter replied coldly. "Besides, even if something happens to me as well, Ryan and Casey will still be able to save everyone else from you and the rest of Bansheera's minions."

Jinxer grinned maliciously at this as Carter quickly paled when he realised that he had slipped up considerably.

"So there are others here in the Aquabase as well, it seems," Jinxer commented. "I'll just have to pay them a visit after I've dealt with you."

Desperately, Carter lunged at the nearby alarm button to give Ryan and Casey some warning about the fact that Jinxer was in the Aquabase. Just as he hit the button, Jinxer dealt him a powerful blow to the head.

The last thing that he heard was the alarm sounding throughout the Aquabase which brought a small smile to his face. Jinxer wouldn't be able to sneak up on Ryan or Casey now.

_I'm sorry, guys, but you're on your own now... _Carter thought just as he lost consciousness.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, in the corridor outside the Zord hangar, early afternoon, a few moments later_

Jinxer looked at the limp form of the Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger with a disgusted look upon his face. Somehow, the Red Ranger had managed to ruin everything by setting off the alarm system to warn his friends that they were not alone in the Aquabase. It was now going to be more difficult for him to subdue two people who were expecting him.

Grimly, Jinxer thought that he would be able to handle them since only one of them would be a challenge to him as a Power Ranger.

As he set off to search for the two humans that the Red Ranger had mentioned, he had no idea of just how wrong he was.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, early afternoon, at that very moment_

As the alarm sounded, both Casey and Ryan stopped in their tracks.

"It seems that we're not alone in the Aquabase," Casey grimly remarked.

"Carter's in trouble," Ryan said grimly. "We should..."

"No," Casey said firmly. "He is capable of holding his own. And, if anything has happened to him, there is nothing that we can do for him now anyway. We should continue searching the Aquabase for survivors whilst keeping an eye out for any demons."

Reluctantly, Ryan nodded at this before both of them continued walking down the corridor to the next room. After all,Casey was right that there was nothing that they could do for Carter now if something had happened to him. They needed to stay alive, and free, so that they could hopefully find out what had happened here and, then, rescue everyone else afterwards.

However, that reason didn't make Ryan feel any better about abandoning his friend to the mercy of the demons.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Security Centre, early afternoon, several minutes later_

When both Ryan and Casey entered the Security Centre, they were completely surprised to find the entire room undamaged. Of all the places in the Aquabase, both of them were pretty sure that this room would have been utterly destroyed like the main Command Centre to prevent anyone from finding out exactly what had happened here.

Both of them, however, were glad to be proven wrong at that moment as Ryan moved over to the security terminal. However, before Ryan could reach the terminal, a sudden sense that something was very wrong swept over Casey and, before Ryan could react, Casey shoved him out of the way of an energy bolt that had been thrown at him by the demon standing in the doorway before Casey spun away from the spot he had been in moments before to avoid being struck by the energy bolt himself.

Instinctively, he then retaliated by throwing one of the Shark Sabers which suddenly appeared in his left hand back at whoever had tried to harm Ryan. He was quickly rewarded by a startled cry of pain which suggested that the Shark Saber had hit its target. Before either of them could see who it was, though, the demon pulled the Shark Saber from his body, threw it to the ground and quickly fled.

Ryan, who had quickly gotten back onto his feet, was about to rush after the demon but was soon stopped by Casey placing a restraining hand upon his arm. The Red Jungle Fury Ranger was smiling, mainly because the painkillers had finally kicked in otherwise he would have been in a lot of pain after pulling off that move, and Ryan looked at him with a weird look because he couldn't understand what Casey was smiling about after they had just been attacked.

"You would never be able to catch the demon, Ryan," Casey assured him calmly as the smile on his face was replaced by a grim expression. "And I don't think that he'll be staying in the Aquabase for much longer either after the injury that I gave him."

Casey then picked up the Shark Saber which was soaked in black viscous blood. When Ryan saw the blood, he grimaced as he recognised it.

"That's definitely demon blood," Ryan confirmed. "And, if I were to guess which type of demon it belonged to, I would say that it came from one of the higher level demons since the Batlings have greenish-yellow blood."

"So either Diabolico, Loki, Vypra or Jinxer led the attack on the Aquabase since I destroyed Olympius," Casey said grimly.

"If I were to guess, I would say that we were probably attacked by Jinxer," Ryan replied. "He's the only one cowardly enough to attack whilst our backs were turned. Thanks for that save by the way."

Casey smiled.

"It was no problem, Ryan," Casey assured. "You and Carter are my best friends here. I will do everything that I can to protect both of you as long as it is within my power."

At the mention of Carter, Ryan instantly grew very worried.

"We should..." Ryan began. Casey shook his head.

"The demons have Carter now, Ryan," Casey said grimly. "It will be up to both of us to rescue him and the rest of the Aquabase personnel now. After we have some idea of what actually happened here in the first place, of course."

"We're in the right place to find out answers, Casey," Ryan assured. "It shouldn't be too difficult for me to gain access to the security footage from here so that we can see exactly what happened here whilst we were gone."

Casey nodded as both of them turned their attention to the security terminal at that moment. As Ryan started working to bring it on-line and call up the necessary security footage, he was thinking only of his friends and family.

And how much he desperately hoped that they were unharmed at that very moment.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, early afternoon, at that very moment_

Grimacing in pain after he had scooped up the unconscious form of the Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger, Jinxer clutched his arm where he had been injured by the Shark Saber only minutes before by that human. He had no idea how that human had sensed him coming nor did he have any idea how he had managed such a skilful counter-attack. All he did know was that he had to get out of here before either of them caught up with him.

All was not lost, however, since he had captured the Red Ranger who, along with the rest of the Aquabase personnel, would act as the perfect bait to draw out the last remaining Lightspeed Rescue Ranger, the Titanium Ranger, to face him.

Then, Jinxer would be able to both get his revenge on the human that had injured him and crush the other humans who oppose the might of Queen Bansheera once and for all in her name.

_Very soon..._ he thought as he moved to leave the Aquabase. _I will have my revenge in the name of my Queen..._


	15. Memories of Conquest: The Demon Invasion

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe 

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Memories of Conquest: The Demon Invasion

by Lauraac2110

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Security Centre, mid-afternoon, some time later_

"...And, voilà," Ryan said with a grin as he finally managed to bring the system back on-line. Then, he called up the security interface.

"Can you get it to show us everything that happened from the moment we left last night onwards?" Casey asked. Ryan nodded.

"I can try," Ryan replied before he set to work. After several minutes of furiously typing in several lines of complicated code, he finally managed to retrieve the necessary security footage and his grin widened.

"Well?" Casey asked anxiously.

"Fortunately for us, none of the security footage has been tampered with _or _destroyed over the past twenty-four hours," Ryan answered. "It's all there so we _should _be able to discover exactly what happened here easily enough."

Ryan then fell silent as he took on a sorrowful expression.

"It's going to be difficult to watch this, Casey. I'm not sure if I'll be able to," Ryan admitted after a few moments of silence between them.

"If I was able to face my past then you should be able to watch this footage," Casey reassured him. "Besides, you won't be alone, Ryan. I'm here."

Ryan smiled at this as Casey put a reassuring arm upon his shoulder before he nodded.

"All right," he said as he took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with."

Casey smiled sadly at him and, with a sigh, Ryan grimly entered the final few commands to play the security footage on the screen.

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, yesterday, very late in the evening**_

_As the four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and Captain Mitchell reappeared in the Command Centre, Captain Mitchell was furious._

"_How dare my son speak to me like that?" Captain Mitchell ranted aloud. The Rangers flinched at this. "I did what I had to do. Mr Rhodes is definitely hiding something from us and we had the right to demand to know what it was."_

"_No disrespect intended, father," Dana said grimly. "But Ryan was right. You did handle that badly. By demanding to know what Casey is hiding from us, you forced him on the defensive and drove him away from us."_

_Captain Mitchell turned and glared at his daughter but didn't get a chance to say anything in response to her criticisms due to a loud explosion which rocked the entire Aquabase at that very moment._

"_What just happened?" Captain Mitchell demanded. Miss Rawlings, who was working at the console, paled as she played the necessary security footage on-screen for all of them to see._

_The emergency entrance had just been blown open and a horde of Batlings were now invading the Aquabase. This was definitely not good._

"_Sir, Batlings have invaded the Aquabase. This appears to be the attack that Casey warned us about," Miss Rawlings answered. The four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers grimaced at this as Captain Mitchell growled._

"_Take us to emergency alert," Captain Mitchell commanded. "Inform all Aquabase personnel that we are under attack and that the Batlings have invaded the Aquabase."_

_Miss Rawlings nodded and, as she frantically worked at the console, Captain Mitchell turned to the Rangers just as a wailing alarm sounded and the lighting turned red._

"_Joel, Chad, Kelsey, deal with the Batlings," Captain Mitchell commanded. "Dana, go to the canteen and watch over the children."_

"_Sir, yes sir," the four Power Rangers replied respectfully before they rushed off. Captain Mitchell took on a grim expression as soon as they were gone._

_They definitely had a problem now. With Carter and Ryan away, the odds of beating back the demon invasion were __definitely not in their favour and Captain Mitchell knew it._

Damn it, I can't believe that Casey Rhodes was right all along about Bansheera's plot to invade the Aquabase... _he thought grimly. _This is definitely not good...

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, yesterday, very late in the evening, several minutes later**_

"_Man, there's so many of them," Joel exclaimed as he, Chad and Kelsey turned the corner into another corridor to come face to face with the advancing horde of Batlings._

"_We have to morph, quickly, if we're to stand any chance of defeating them," Chad exclaimed as he dodged a blow from one of the Batlings before he quickly took out another._

_Kelsey and Joel nodded at this._

"_Lightspeed, Rescue!" the three of them called as they activated their morphers and morphed. As soon as they had morphed, each of them drew out their Rescue Blasters and changed them into batons before they charged into battle against the Batlings._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, yesterday, very late in the evening, at that very moment**_

_When Dana entered the Canteen, all of the frightened children gathered there instantly swarmed around her with their treasured belongings in hand._

"_Miss Mitchell! What's happening?" they asked._

"_Demons are invading the Aquabase," Dana answered quietly. The children gasped in fear at this but Dana quickly tried to reassure them as she continued with, "But everything is going to be all right. The other Power Rangers are taking care of them right now. I'm here to protect all of you no matter what."_

"_No matter what?" one boy repeated with wide eyes._

"_No matter what," Dana said with a sad smile as she ruffled the boy's hair._

_The children then animatedly began to talk about other things in an attempt to distract themselves from what was happening elsewhere in the Aquabase and Dana listened to them with a false smile upon her face._

_She knew that she couldn't show any signs of weakness to the children. They were extremely perceptive and, if they saw any trace of the inner turmoil that was now going on inside of her, she knew that they would very quickly realise that the situation was worse than she had managed to make them believe._

_Truthfully, Dana was exceptionally worried that the demons might manage to overpower her friends, and fellow Power Rangers, because they were at a disadvantage without Carter and Ryan. She was also very afraid of what would happen to them should the demons manage to defeat the Power Rangers and gain control of the Aquabase._

_The children didn't know that, however, and that was all that mattered to her as she moved to comfort one of them who had just burst into tears at that moment._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, yesterday, very, very late in the evening, some time later**_

_Joel, Kelsey and Chad continued to battle the horde of Batlings in defence of the Aquabase when the tide of the battle started to shift against them. So far, they had managed to regain a significant amount of ground by forcing the Batlings back out of the corridor that they were in. _

_However, that changed when Jinxer arrived in the corridor. Before the three Lightspeed Rescue Rangers could react, Jinxer managed to hit them with a bolt of energy which sent them flying into the wall at the end of the corridor. By the time that the three Rangers had gotten back onto their feet, the Batlings had managed to regain all of the ground that they had lost._

_All three of them groaned at this. Now they were going to have to force the Batlings out of the corridor once again which, given the fact that they now also had to take on Jinxer as well, was going to be an extremely difficult task._

"_I'll deal with Jinxer," Kelsey said grimly. "Keep the Batlings away from me!"_

_Chad and Joel nodded. Then, the two of them quickly cleared a path for Kelsey so that she could get directly to Jinxer._

"_You are no match for me, human," Jinxer scoffed as she managed to get through the horde of Batlings to him._

"_We'll see. Bring it on, Jinxer," Kelsey countered before she and Jinxer quickly became locked in a heated battle._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, yesterday, very, very late in the evening, at that very moment**_

"_What's the situation?" Captain Mitchell demanded. Miss Rawlings turned to him with a grim expression upon her face._

"_It doesn't look good, Captain," she answered. "Joel, Chad and Kelsey, along with various pockets of the Aquabase personnel, are struggling to hold off the demon horde. Jinxer is here and Kelsey is fighting him, on her own, as we speak."_

_Captain Mitchell grimaced at this before she turned back to the console again. This was definitely not good at all. _

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Corridor, yesterday, midnight, some time later**_

_It was a simple mistake that finally gave Jinxer the complete advantage. Kelsey tripped as she tried to dodge a powerful blow to the head and, before she could regain her balance, Jinxer used his cane-like blaster to deal her a powerful blow to the chest. She cried out in agony as she was forcibly powered down and the Batlings managed to quickly restrain her._

"_Let go!" Kelsey exclaimed furiously as she tried to struggle free._

"_Kelsey!" Chad and Joel exclaimed as they rushed to help her. Whilst their backs were turned to him, Jinxer hit both of them with a dirty shot which caused them both to power down as they fell to the floor._

"_Chad! Joel!" Kelsey exclaimed in horror as Batlings restrained both Chad and Joel as they got back onto their feet. _

"_Hey, let go!" Joel exclaimed as the three Lightspeed Rescue Rangers tried to struggle free. Unfortunately, none of them could get free since the Batlings' hold on them was just too strong for them to overcome._

"_I think not," Jinxer said coldly. "Batlings, bring them whilst we subdue the rest of the Aquabase."_

_The Batlings nodded at this and dragged the struggling Power Rangers along as they followed Jinxer down the corridor deeper into the Aquabase._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, earlier in the day, very, very early in the morning, several minutes later**_

"_Captain, Joel, Chad and Kelsey have been captured by the Batlings," Miss Rawlings informed him as she turned to him with a grim expression upon her face. "What are your orders?"_

_Captain Mitchell cursed. Things were definitely looking very bad at that moment but he wasn't going to give up. He knew that he would go down fighting before he surrendered to the demons and that was what he intended to do._

"_We're not surrendering no matter how dire the situation now is," Captain Mitchell answered firmly. "Everything now rests upon Dana and the rest of the Aquabase personnel now."_

_Miss Rawlings nodded in agreement to this before she turned back to the console again leaving a grim Captain Mitchell to silently consider what he was going to do should all hope end up being lost._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Canteen, earlier in the day, very, very early in the morning, at that very moment**_

_The screams started almost as soon as the children saw the Batlings. As the demons swarmed into the canteen, Dana instantly moved to protect her young charges by pulling one small child out of the way of a shot which rendered one of the tables into a pile of smouldering wood before she instantly dodged an attack from one of the Batlings close to her._

"_Lightspeed, Rescue!" Dana exclaimed as she activated her morpher and morphed. She then drew out her Rescue Blaster and started exchanging fire with the Batlings as she tried to protect the children as best as she could. Blows were exchanged as Dana fought back and forth, back and forth, whilst she ferociously tried to ensure that the children were not harmed._

"_Miss Mitchell, behind you!" one of the children bravely exclaimed. Dana, without thinking, spun out of the way and narrowly managed to avoid a blast from Jinxer's cane-like blaster which had been sent her way. Jinxer had obviously tried to catch her surprise by splitting the horde of Batlings in two but, fortunately, Dana had managed to outsmart him. _

_Further blows were exchanged between Dana and the Batlings for several minutes which rendered more of the tables into piles of smouldering wood and left scorch marks across the walls and floor. However, it was not until she dodged a further blast from Jinxer that she spotted that her fellow Power Rangers, Joel, Chad and Kelsey, being held by the Batlings just behind Jinxer in the corridor into the canteen. When she did see them, she instinctively rushed to try to free them from the Batlings' grasp._

_And that was her greatest mistake. As she moved to aid her fellow Rangers, she did not see that the young boy that she had comforted earlier was in danger before it was too late. Despite her attempt to go to protect the child, she couldn't reach him before Jinxer did._

_In horror, Dana watched as Jinxer picked up the screaming boy and held his cane-like blaster to the boy's neck. _

"_No!" Dana exclaimed. "Let the child go, Jinxer. Please."_

"_Surrender, Pink Ranger, or the child dies," Jinxer hissed with an evil smirk. _

"_I..." Dana began._

"_Surrender or the child dies, Ranger," Jinxer repeated._

_For a moment, Dana hesitated before she grimly powered down. She could not let the boy be harmed under any circumstances. As the Batlings seized her, none of them noticed as she dropped her morpher onto the floor since she __could not allow the technology it contained to fall into the wrong hands._

_Jinxer smirked at this before he released the boy who scurried over to hide behind one of the older children present in the canteen._

"_Half of you bring the Rangers," Jinxer commanded. "The rest of you stay here and subdue the children."_

_Jinxer turned and slowly strode out of the room at that moment. As soon as he was gone, the Batlings scurried to obey his commands. The four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers listened in horror whilst they were being dragged out of the room after Jinxer as the children left behind screamed in fear as the Batlings descended upon them to subdue them._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, earlier in the day, very early in the morning, several minutes later**_

"_Captain, Dana has been captured and the Aquabase personnel will not be able to hold off the Batlings for very much longer," Miss Rawlings said grimly. "What are your orders?"_

_Captain Mitchell closed his eyes for a moment as he grimaced and resigned himself to the inevitable. It was now a question of just how much time they had left until the demons gained full control of the Aquabase because they had absolutely no hope of defeating the demon horde and he knew it._

"_With the Power Rangers captured, we have no hope of preventing the demons from gaining full control of the Aquabase," he admitted quietly. "Prepare for the worst, Angela."_

_She nodded and turned back to the console where she grimly began to initiate a lockdown of the system to ensure that the demons would not be able to get their hands upon the vital information that it contained._

_Whilst she was doing that, Captain Mitchell steeled himself to face the demons and hoped, with all his heart, that Miss Rawlings would finish the lockdown process before the demon horde managed to make their way to the Command Centre._

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, earlier in the day, early in the morning, some time later**_

"_I've locked down the system, Captain," Miss Rawlings informed him grimly. "I've also sealed my lab and the Zord hangar in an attempt to prevent their contents from falling into the hands of the demon horde."_

_Captain Mitchell grimly nodded._

"_You've done well, Angela," he said simply just as the nearby door was flung open by Jinxer who had a horde of Batlings at his back._

"_Captain Mitchell, we meet again," Jinxer cackled. Instinctively, Captain Mitchell moved into a defensive stance as both he and Miss Rawlings turned to the demon horde._

"_Jinxer, do not think for one second that I'm going to come quietly," Captain Mitchell warned. "I will not surrender to the likes of you."_

"_That's what you think," Jinxer replied as he fired his cane-like blaster at the Captain. Both he and Miss Rawlings had to dive out of the way of the shot which hit the equipment and destroyed it. The force of the shot also overturned nearby chairs and scattered the paperwork which had been sitting in front of the screens._

_Then, Jinxer fired a second shot which shattered the glass screens and sent a particularly large shard of glass from the biggest screen flying. Unfortunately, Captain Mitchell couldn't avoid being hit by the shard since he failed to dodge it in time so it embedded itself deeply into his right arm._

_Captain Mitchell cried out in agony as he instantly clutched his arm and pulled the smouldering piece of glass out of the large gash that he had now obtained. _

"_Captain!" Miss Rawlings exclaimed as soon she saw the blood pouring out of his wound. She was about to rush to aid him when the Batlings easily seized them both since Captain Mitchell couldn't defend himself due to his injury and Miss Rawlings was just too horrified by the amount of blood pouring out of Captain Mitchell's arm to fight back._

_As soon as the Batlings had seized them, Jinxer strode forward and took Captain Mitchell from them before dragging him towards his office. After all, he did have to leave a message for the missing Power Rangers and what better way to make a chilling statement than to make it in blood?_

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, Command Centre, earlier in the day, early in the morning, a few minutes later**_

_When Jinxer returned with Captain Mitchell, Captain Mitchell was quite pale but he had a defiant look upon his face despite the fact that he was badly injured. Calmly, Jinxer tossed Captain Mitchell to the Batlings and then grinned._

"_Take these two to the rest that we've captured," Jinxer commanded. "And then go capture the remaining Aquabase personnel so that they can be taken directly to Queen Bansheera."_

"_You won't get away with this, Jinxer," Captain Mitchell valiantly vowed before he was dragged out of the Command Centre. Jinxer just shook his head at this before he went off to collect the Power Rangers from where he had left them in the Batlings' hands so that they wouldn't interfere to protect their leader. There were a few things that he needed to get his hands on to present to his Queen as gifts and the Rangers were going to hand them over or pay the price. _

_**Lightspeed Aquabase, in the corridor outside the Zord hangar, earlier in the day, early in the morning, some time later**_

_Joel, Chad, Kelsey and Dana listened and watched in horror as loud explosions rocked the Aquabase every time that Jinxer tried desperately to get into the Zord hangar. To their relief, the titanium door held through each of the explosions that the Batlings set off in an attempt to weaken the door and force it open._

_By the fifth explosion, Jinxer was absolutely livid and he knew, without a doubt, that no amount of explosives would ever manage to break down that door so he decided to try a different tactic as he turned to the Power Rangers._

"_One of you will open that door for me," Jinxer growled threateningly. The four Power Rangers, with smirks upon their faces, shook their heads._

"_You don't scare us, Jinxer," Chad said bravely. "We'll never open that door for you no matter what you try to threaten us with."_

"_What about your precious Aquabase personnel?" Jinxer suggested with a growl. "I could quite easily kill a few of them until you co-operate."_

"_It w__on't work. If you were to get your hands upon the Zords, we know that you'll just kill everyone by using our Zords against us once you've delivered us to Bansheera," Kelsey pointed out. "Besides, killing innocents would only enrage us to the point where your life would be in considerable danger so I don't think you'll dare to do it."_

"_And given that Carter and Ryan are currently free, I believe that harming the Aquabase personnel would be the last mistake that you ever make," Dana pointed out. "Neither of them will stop fighting you until they destroy you if you harmed any of the innocent personnel in any way."_

_Jinxer blinked at this as an idea suddenly formed in his mind. Then, he grinned maliciously as he looked to the small horde of Batlings._

"_Gather the others and all of the Aquabase personnel and take them straight to Bansheera," Jinxer commanded them. "I'll follow right behind all of you after I've dealt with a few things here in the Aquabase first."_

_The Batlings collectively nodded and dragged the Power Rangers off leaving Jinxer alone in front of the titanium door into the Zord hangar with a malicious grin upon his face._

My Queen will reward me greatly for this... _Jinxer thought before he turned and left the corridor to find a good place to hide until the two missing Power Rangers inevitably returned._

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Security Centre, late afternoon, some time later_

Ryan was silent as he stopped security footage just after Jinxer had left the corridor.

"Ryan, are you all right?" Casey asked softly as soon as he saw the pained expression upon his friend's face. Ryan turned to Casey at that moment and, reluctantly, sighed.

"No, I'm not," he replied honestly. "But I will be as soon as we rescue everyone from the demon horde."

Casey smiled sadly at this.

"Don't worry, Ryan," Casey said reassuringly. "We'll rescue everyone from Jinxer and the demons."

"How? What can we do when we're so heavily outnumbered?" Ryan demanded. "We can't face an entire horde of demons on our own, Casey, and you know it."

He banged his fist in frustration against one of the nearby walls before he took a deep calming breath. Casey sighed at this.

"Normally, we would not be able to face an entire horde of demons on our own," Casey conceded. "But this is an emergency. We _have _to face the demons on our own, Ryan, or the entire Aquabase personnel are going to end up being at the mercy of Bansheera who will obviously harm them. Do you want that to happen?"

Ryan sighed.

"Of course not," he said simply. "But what can we do?"

"A great deal," Casey replied with a small smile as a plan to rescue everyone from the demon horde formed in his mind. "Don't worry, I've got a plan."

"Which is?" Ryan demanded.

"Well..." Casey began as he started to outline the details of his plan to free everyone from the clutches of the demon horde.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, late afternoon, at that very moment_

When Jinxer finally caught up with the horde of Batlings that were dragging the Aquabase personnel to face Queen Bansheera, the first thing that he did was hand the now conscious Red Ranger to one of the Batlings.

The second thing that he did was to order the Batlings to pick up the pace before he strode to the head of the horde with the Batlings dragging the Power Rangers and Captain Mitchell close behind him.

"Carter," Dana hissed as they were dragged along. "Are you all right?"

Grimly, Carter nodded before wincing as the Batling which was restraining him tugged tightly on his injured shoulder as it dragged him along.

"What happened?" Kelsey demanded quietly. "Are Casey and Ryan all right?"

"Given the fact that Jinxer is injured and that they're not here right now, I have to assume that both of them escaped Jinxer and are fine," Carter replied.

"Is Casey..." Joel began. Carter nodded.

"For now Casey is staying with us, yes," Carter answered. "And believe me when I say that I'm glad that he is."

"So our survival now depends on my son and... Mr Rhodes," Captain Mitchell said grimly. "Great."

"Sir, both of them will be able to rescue us," Carter reassured him.

"Really?" Captain Mitchell countered sceptically.

"Really," Carter replied firmly.

_After all, Casey did defeat Olympius on his own. _Carter added silently. _And Ryan has been a Power Ranger for a long time..._

"Carter?" Chad said softly. Carter blinked.

"I'm fine," Carter answered. "Casey and Ryan will not fail us. Trust me."

_They are both two of the best Power Rangers that I've ever had the pleasure to be friends with, after all... _Carter silently added with a small smile as the demons continued to drag the Aquabase personnel through the desert to Bansheera.


	16. Chapter 7: Tiger and Titanium

Lightspeed Fury Odyssey

Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe

A Power Rangers Fanfiction

Chapter 7: Tiger and Titanium

by Lauraac2110

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Security Centre, early evening, some time later_

"... So, if all goes well, I believe that my plan should give us the advantage over Jinxer," Casey said as he finished outlining the details of his plan. "After all, Jinxer will be expecting to only have to fight one Power Ranger not two."

"That's true," Ryan mused before he grimaced. "However, there are still a few flaws in your plan. There's..."

"Ryan," Casey interrupted with a sad smile. "Trust me, I think that we'll both manage to pull this off as long as we work together."

"I do trust you, Casey. It's just..." Ryan began at that moment in frustration before trailing off.

"I know, Ryan," Casey said softly in reassurance as he placed a comforting arm on Ryan's shoulder before he said, "I'm worried about them too but worrying, right now, is going to get us nowhere. So why don't we go get something to eat and drink right now? Perhaps, after we have eaten something, we'll both be able to go over the flaws in the plan with clearer heads."

Ryan nodded, smiling sadly at Casey, before both of them left for the kitchen.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Kitchen, early evening, several minutes later_

The kitchen was a mess, with food strewn over the counters and shards of shattered plates on the floor. Ryan and Casey had to tread carefully to make sure that they didn't slip on anything or injure themselves on one of the shards as they searched for something to eat. Eventually, they found some fresh bread in the cupboard which, along with some salad from the fridge, they used to make some salad sandwiches. It wasn't much but neither of them complained about it as they ate.

When they were finished eating, both of them took out a bottle of water from the fridge and started taking sips from it whilst they discussed the flaws to Casey's plan in a little more detail.

"So do you really think we'll be able to surprise the demons?" Ryan asked.

Casey smiled.

"Of course, Ryan," Casey assured him.

"But..." Ryan began.

"Ryan, we will have the element of surprise no matter what happens. They'll be expecting one Power Ranger remember not two. And, yes, before you ask, none of the personnel will be in danger if we free the other Rangers as soon as we engage the demon horde," Casey said firmly. "The only flaw that we should really be worried about is how much time we have left to pull this rescue plan off so we should get going now that we've ate and drank."

"Okay, I'll show you the way to the Zord hangar then," Ryan said grimly. "To be honest, though, I have absolutely no idea how we're going to get into the hangar in the first place."

Casey smiled.

"Trust me, Ryan. We'll definitely get in," Casey assured him. Ryan nodded dubiously in reply and, together, both of them left the kitchen to head to the Zord hangar.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, in the corridor outside the Zord hangar, early evening, several minutes later again_

When they arrived outside the Zord hangar, Ryan instantly turned to Casey who was smirking in amusement at him.

"All right, Casey. Just how are we getting into the hangar?" Ryan asked.

"Through the ventilation shaft in the ceiling, of course," Casey replied with a grin as he pointed up to the shaft above their heads. Ryan blinked at this and looked up for a moment at the shaft before he took on a confused expression.

"I can honestly say that I didn't know that was there," Ryan admitted.

"That's probably because you have been trained by demons," Casey replied seriously. "And, although demons do pay very good attention to their surroundings, I noticed when I was watching the security footage that they generally don't pay any attention to what is directly above them unless they're facing an enemy that can fly. It's habit which you might want to consider trying to break at some point, Ryan."

Ryan nodded at this.

Casey then grinned as he took on a less serious expression.

"Anyway, even if Jinxer did notice the ventilation shaft, I seriously doubt that he would have realised that he could use it to get to the Zord hangar," Casey continued. "The demons, after all, don't understand the finer details of extremely complex structures such as this one. RJ noticed a similar thing about Dai Shi and his armies as well when we facing them."

Casey then took on a pained expression at that moment as his thoughts once again turned to his friends the Jungle Fury Rangers. This time, his thoughts turned specifically to the guilt that he felt about what had happened to Theo and Lily along with the sorrow that he felt about not knowing whether RJ or Dominic were alive or not.

"Thinking about them must be really hard for you, Casey," Ryan said quietly.

"They mean a great deal to me, Ryan," Casey said softly in response as he fought back the tears that he felt forming in the corner of his eyes. "The fight against Dai Shi brought us really close together and..."

Casey then trailed off as he wiped away the tears.

"Enough about them, though," Casey said with a grimace as he abruptly changed the topic. "Stand back so that I can get this vent open."

Ryan nodded and stepped back. Calmly, Casey summoned a Shark Saber to his hand and proceeded to slice the hinges on the grille cleanly in two in one swipe causing the grille to clatter to the floor with a small clank.

"Now, we've just got to get up into the shaft," Casey said grimly as the Shark Saber vanished.

"If I give you a boost, I should be able to get you up into the ventilation shaft," Ryan informed Casey. "But..."

"Don't worry," Casey said as he smiled reassuringly at Ryan. "Once I'm up in the ventilation shaft, I should be able to lift you into the shaft as well although it won't be easy."

"All right," Ryan said as he got into position. "I'm ready when you are."

"I'm ready," Casey assured Ryan. "Let's do it."

With that, Ryan helped Casey to climb up into the ventilation shaft. Then, once Casey was in position in the shaft, Casey hauled him up after him. Once both of them were in the ventilation shaft, both of them sat where they were, breathing heavily, whilst they took a few moments to recover their energy before Casey sighed.

"Hopefully, if we follow the ventilation shaft, we should be able to find the one that leads to the Zord Bay," Casey said grimly.

"It should be the closest grille," Ryan informed Casey.

Casey nodded before he wordlessly started crawling down the vent with Ryan following close behind him.

_Lightspeed Aquabase, Zord hangar, early evening, several minutes later again_

After he had kicked the grille open, Casey calmly leapt out of the ventilation shaft and explored the hangar. As he looked around, he took a moment to admire each of the Zords in the hangar one by one before he sighed as Ryan leapt down from the ventilation shaft behind him.

Together, both of them crossed over to the computer where Ryan quickly set to work. As soon as he started to access the Max Solarzord's systems, a small golden sun with a countdown clock below it appeared in the corner of the screen.

"According to this, we only have just over three hours until the sun goes down," Ryan said grimly. "When the sun goes down, the Lightspeed Solarzord will be completely useless which will leave us in great danger especially if we end up having to face a super-sized Jinxer. Unfortunately, though, it is the only Zord available to us right now so we're just going to have to take the chance like you said."

"If worst comes to worst, I'll ensure that the Lightspeed Solarzord has enough power," Casey assured Ryan.

"How?" Ryan demanded.

Casey sighed.

"That's my secret," Casey replied before he added quietly, "Trust me, I'll ensure that the Lightspeed Solarzord has enough power if the sun goes down before we've rescued everyone."

Upon seeing the grim look upon Casey's face, Ryan decided that it probably wasn't a good idea to press the issue so he dropped it and, silently, turned back to the computer where he began to rapidly type in several lines of code.

"You might want to hold on," Ryan warned grimly. "I'm going to have to bring the Aquabase to the surface to release the Zords."

Casey nodded and, grimly, held onto the table as the entire Aquabase began to tremble whilst it resurfaced. Once it had resurfaced, Ryan began to grimly type in several more lines of code to release the required Zords before starting up the auto-combination sequence to form the Lightspeed Solarzord outside.

"The Aquabase is going to be vulnerable whilst we're gone, you know," Ryan warned.

"Neither the Grinders or the Batlings are likely to come across it whilst we're gone," Casey informed Ryan reassuringly. "After all, the Batlings will be too busy fighting us. And, if there are any Grinders in the area, the Lightspeed Solarzord will likely bring them after us."

Ryan grimaced at this before he nodded.

"That's a fair point," Ryan admitted. "So, if I'm going to be piloting the Megazord, what are you going to do?"

Casey smirked.

"I'll be hitching a ride with you," Casey replied. "I need to rest to conserve my energy so that I have enough strength to battle the Batlings later."

Ryan nodded.

"Let's go then," Ryan replied before both of them followed the Zords out of the hangar door. Outside, they quickly managed to clamber into the cockpit of the Lightspeed Solarzord and, once they were inside, Ryan quickly set it off in pursuit of the demon horde.

As the Lightspeed Solarzord began to run through the desert, thoughts of the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were running through Ryan's mind as Casey rested in one of the other chairs in the cockpit behind him.

_We're coming, guys... _Ryan silently vowed. _Just hold on until we get there._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, Lightspeed Solarzord Cockpit, mid-evening, some time later_

As a large dust cloud appeared in the distance, Casey instantly got to his feet.

"Ryan, stop here," Casey commanded firmly as they entered a bunker.

"But..." Ryan began.

"Stop here," Casey repeated firmly. "If my plan is to succeed, we must not alert the demons to the fact that we've got a Megazord with us."

Ryan grumbled before he did as Casey had commanded and stopped the Megazord in the bunker before following after Casey as he left the Megazord cockpit.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, mid-evening, several minutes later_

"So how are we going to catch up to the demon horde now?" Ryan demanded.

"I'm going to morph and call my Tiger Spirit," Casey informed him before he smirked. "It's fast enough to be able to catch up with the demons quickly but small enough not to attract their attention until it's too late."

"But.." Ryan began.

"If you ride on its back, we should be able to catch up to the demons within half an hour at the very most," Casey informed him. "However, I warn you, I won't stop to pick you up should you fall off."

Ryan at that moment grinned.

"What are we waiting for, then?" Ryan countered. "Let's morph and get out of here, Casey."

Casey nodded and quickly put on his Solar Morpher and activated it as Ryan flicked open the panel on his Titanium Morpher.

"Ready?" Casey asked.

"Ready," Ryan agreed. "Titanium Power!"

"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" Casey called as he quickly went through all of the stances.

They morphed and Casey, grimly, took a few necessary steps back away from Ryan.

"Call to the spirit within, free the Tiger!" he exclaimed as he unleashed his Tiger Spirit and leapt into it. Seconds later, the Tiger Spirit growled softly as it knelt to allow Ryan to climb up onto its back. Once Ryan was on its back, he quickly pulled out his Titanium Laser which he held in one hand whilst he held tightly to the Tiger Spirit using the other hand as it set off in pursuit of the demon horde.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, mid-evening, some time later_

A thunderous feral roar made the entire demon horde stop instantly whilst the Aquabase personnel looked around in confusion.

"What the hell was that?" Captain Mitchell swore as Carter, the only one who had an idea of what was about to happen, simply grinned as he sighed in relief.

_Thank goodness... _he thought just as the Tiger Spirit, with Ryan on its back, appeared at the top of the nearest sand dune.

"Jinxer, you coward," Ryan yelled angrily. "Did you miss me?"

"You!" Jinxer growled before he commanded, "Batlings, attack!"

With that, the Batlings raised their bazookas and started to fire at them whilst the snarling Tiger Spirit descended upon the demon horde. On its back, Ryan returned fire using his Titanium Laser whilst being careful to duck or lean to one side to avoid being hit by their shots.

When the Tiger Spirit reached the Batlings, it began to use its fangs and claws to tear them apart as Ryan elegantly backflipped off its back and changed his Titanium Laser into his battle-axe so that he could cut his way through the ranks of the Batlings to rescue the Aquabase personnel.

Jinxer stood watching Ryan's progress with an impressed look upon his face for a few moments as he mercilessly cut his way through any demon that got in his way as he made his way towards his friends whilst the Tiger Spirit continued to tear apart Batlings.

However, after those few moments, Jinxer launched himself into action. At heart, Jinxer was a coward which meant that he always put self-preservation at the top of his priorities and, at that very moment as he moved to attack the unarmed Lightspeed Rescue Rangers, he knew that Bansheera would destroy him for being utterly useless if he didn't manage to do something, anything, to try to ensure that some of his plan succeeded.

Ryan, with wide eyes, guessed instantly what Jinxer was about to do as he continued to cut his way through the Batlings. With a furious cry, he managed to leap over the remaining Batlings in front of him and barely managed to intercept Jinxer before he could harm the other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers.

"Coward!" Ryan exclaimed furiously. "You'll pay for the damage that you've caused, Jinxer."

"Bring it on, Titanium Ranger," Jinxer replied before he raised his cane-like blaster and attacked. Very quickly, both of them became locked in a ferocious duel trading powerful blows as they fought back and forth.

_You're not going to win, Jinxer. _Ryan vowed silently as he deflected a particularly powerful blast to one side. _Not this time._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, mid-evening, at that very moment_

Meanwhile, whilst Ryan and Jinxer were locked in a ferocious duel, the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers managed to break free of the Batlings holding them and both Miss Rawlings and Captain Mitchell prisoner. Fortunately, before the Batlings could get back up again, the Tiger Spirit took them out before quickly going back to freeing the rest of the Aquabase personnel by defeating the rest of the Batlings.

Captain Mitchell, quite confused, blinked as he stared at the ferocious Tiger.

"Just where the hell did that massive tiger come from?" Captain Mitchell demanded as Carter smiled.

"There is no time for explanations right now, sir," Carter replied respectfully. "However, I promise that you'll get the full story from me as soon as we can get out of here. Joel, Chad, Kelsey, Dana, they're going to need our help. We need to morph."

Dana was about to protest that she couldn't, as she didn't have her Rescue Morpher, but Carter reached into his pocket and tossed it to her before she could say anything else as he sighed.

"Ready?" he asked the other four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers.

"We're ready," they replied.

"Lightspeed, Rescue!" the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers called as they activated their Rescue Morphers and morphed.

As soon as they were morphed, Carter took charge.

"All right, Dana, Kesley, go help destroy the remaining Batlings," Carter commanded. "Joel, Chad and I are going to help Ryan deal with Jinxer."

The other Lightspeed Rescue Rangers nodded before they split up as several of the freed personnel rushed to Captain Mitchell for orders.

"Sir?" they said respectfully. Before Captain Mitchell could give them their orders, Miss Rawlings did.

"Gather together the Aquabase personnel and start leading them down the coast back to the Aquabase at once," she commanded. "Be on constant alert because, if there were any Grinders in the nearby area, they're almost certainly going to be heading this way."

Both of them nodded before doing just that whilst she turned her attention to the battles going on around her ignoring a rather stunned Captain Mitchell who was still trying to get over his confusion. Ryan, with help from Carter, Joel and Chad, continued his ferocious battle with Jinxer whilst Dana and Kelsey were helping to dispose of the remaining Batlings.

Whilst she was watching the battles going on around her, Miss Rawlings was completely oblivious of the fact that a few of the remaining Batlings were advancing towards both her and Captain Mitchell. Captain Mitchell, however, wasn't.

"Angela, look out!" he exclaimed in warning as the Batlings raised their bazookas and fired at them.

"Miss Rawlings, father!" Dana screamed as she looked up from where she was fighting the Batlings with Kelsey as the shots flew towards both Miss Rawlings and Captain Mitchell. Before either Dana or Kelsey could react, the Tiger Spirit launched itself into the path of the shots to protect both of them before it then started to systematically tear apart the remaining Batlings as Miss Rawlings and Captain Mitchell looked on.

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, mid-evening, several minutes later_

Just as the last of the Batlings were destroyed around them, Jinxer unleashed a powerful bolt of energy at his opponents. At the very last second, Ryan managed to dive out of the way of the blast but, unfortunately, the others were not so fortunate.

The bolt of energy hit Carter, Joel and Chad head on and blasted them back several metres where they landed in a heap on the sand. Jinxer cackled as he prepared to unleash a second bolt of energy.

"Oh no you don't," Dana and Kelsey exclaimed as they leapt at Jinxer in an attempt to prevent him from unleashing the second bolt of energy. Unfortunately, they were a second or so too late and were hit by the second bolt of energy and thrown back onto the sand next to the other three Lightspeed Rescue Rangers who were struggling to get back up onto their feet again.

"This is the end for you, Rangers," Jinxer said gleefully as he unleashed a third bolt of energy towards the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers. However, before it could hit the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers, the Tiger Spirit threw itself into its path to block the attack with a feral snarl.

"No!" Ryan exclaimed in horror as the bolt of energy hit the Tiger Spirit causing a massive explosion of bright light which forced everyone to close their eyes and look away.

When everyone finally dared to open their eyes again, they found that the Tiger Spirit was gone. And, in its place, Casey stood in a defensive stance. His suit was partially scorched in a few places but he appeared to be all right otherwise.

Behind him, the five Lightspeed Rescue Rangers had been forcibly powered down by the force of the blast. With the exception of Carter, the others were looking at Casey with confused looks upon their faces as they didn't recognise him.

Carter, on the other hand, was simply relieved that they hadn't been destroyed by that bolt of energy. With a small smile on his face, he silently thanked fate for bringing Casey Rhodes into their lives before he sat up with a small groan.

Jinxer had a look of shock on his face. Not only was there a Power Ranger before him that he had never seen before, said Power Ranger also appeared to be a far greater threat to him than the others especially if he managed to withstand that powerful bolt of energy with nothing more than a few scorch marks on his suit.

"It's going to take a lot more than that to defeat me, Jinxer," Casey said softly before he added, "How is your arm, by the way?"

Jinxer growled instantly as he realised that this was the human that had hit him with that blade earlier.

"You!" Jinxer growled. "You will pay dearly for that."

Casey shook his head.

"Your threats are meaningless, coward," Casey said coldly. "I am not afraid of you."

"You should be," Jinxer replied.

"I personally destroyed Olympius, Jinxer," Casey informed. "Compared to him, you are no match for me."

There were gasps at this from the four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers who didn't know, Captain Mitchell and Miss Rawlings as they stared at the Red Jungle Fury Ranger in shock. Ryan and Carter, however, just smirked.

"You lie!" Jinxer thundered.

"Both Carter and I were witnesses to Olympius's destruction, Jinxer," Ryan added in at that moment before he stated firmly, "He is gone."

"And, if I have my way, you are going to be joining him," Casey added firmly. "Ryan?"

"I'm with you," Ryan assured before he added, "Together... Casey."

This left everyone who didn't know in shock as Casey calmly summoned both Shark Sabers into his hands just as Jinxer let out a furious cry before charging at both him and Ryan. Very quickly, he and Ryan became engaged in a ferocious battle back and forth whilst everyone looked on.

Whilst Captain Mitchell was struggling with his conflicting emotions about Casey being a Ranger, and Miss Rawlings was quietly watching the battle, the four Lightspeed Rescue Rangers who hadn't known were instantly preparing to join the battle again to help Casey. Even though they were slightly hurt that Casey hadn't told them the truth, he was still their friend so they were definitely not going to allow him or Ryan to be destroyed by Jinxer if they could help it.

However, just before they could morph once they had gotten back onto their feet, Carter stopped them as he too got to his feet.

"No, it would be best for us to leave this to Casey and Ryan," Carter said firmly. "Trust me, they're more than a match for Jinxer right now."

"But..." Dana began.

"No, Dana," Carter repeated firmly. "This is their fight. Trust me, please, and just watch."

The other Lightpseed Rangers reluctantly nodded before turning their attention back to the battle. Whilst Jinxer was struggling to dodge and block the numerous blows that Casey and Ryan were raining down upon him, Casey and Ryan were working together to wear Jinxer down whilst waiting for the perfect opportunity to end this battle.

Eventually, the opening that they had been waiting for came as Casey managed to disarm Jinxer when he put a little too much force into one of his blows.

"Ryan, let's end this together!" Casey exclaimed as he combined both of his Shark Sabers into the one saber whilst Ryan nodded.

"As one," Ryan agreed. "Now!"

With that, both of them attacked Jinxer as one before they leapt back just as Jinxer let out a cry of frustration.

"Game over," Ryan said firmly

"No!" Jinxer exclaimed before he collapsed onto the sand and was destroyed by a powerful explosion. However, only a few seconds after he was apparently destroyed, he returned again as a massive supersized demon. Casey swore as his Shark Sabers vanished.

"Ryan, get the Megazord," Casey hissed quietly before he added loudly, "Go! I'll hold him off."

"But Casey..." Ryan began.

"Go! There's no time to waste," Casey replied firmly as he quickly got into the correct stance. "Call to the spirit within, free the Tiger!"

The battered Tiger Spirit leapt out from Casey's hands at his call and, without looking back, Casey instantly leapt into it just as Ryan turned and rushed away to do as Casey asked.

"Fool, I'll crush you!" Jinxer vowed before attempting to stomp on the Tiger Spirit. The Tiger Spirit instantly dodged the attack whilst, inside it, Casey grimaced.

_Hurry, Ryan. _He thought grimly just as the Tiger Spirit was forced to dodge another blow from Jinxer. _I don't think that I'__ll be able to hold Jinxer off for very long._

_Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, mid-evening, at that very moment_

Concealed behind a nearby sand dune, the demonic trio of Diabolico, Vypra and Loki were watching the battle between Jinxer and the new Ranger with a lot of interest.

After having been forced to flee from Queen Bansheera's presence whilst she grieved for the loss of her son earlier in the day, they had later been ordered by her to go find out what was taking Jinxer so long to return. When they had arrived on the scene, they had decided to stand back and watch the battle instead of helping Jinxer because all three of them hated the demon with a strong passion.

They had been surprised when the new Power Ranger had showed up, especially when they heard that he had been the one to destroy Olympius, but that surprise had quickly given way to interest especially when all of them saw how powerful he was.

Gleefully, Diabolico had remarked that Jinxer was in a lot of trouble which neither Loki or Vypra had disagreed with. After all, it had been quite clear to all three of them that Jinxer was completely out of his depth as he fought poorly with both the new Ranger and the Titanium Ranger.

However, they could see quite clearly that the tide of the battle had changed now that Jinxer had grown to a massive size. The new Ranger, in his mysterious Zord, was struggling to merely hold off Jinxer whilst the other Rangers were simply watching the battle with concern instead of trying to help him for some reason.

"Diabolico," Vypra asked softly. "What should we do?"

"Nothing except watch for now, Vypra," Diabolico replied calmly. "After Olympius, I'm fairly certain that the Power Rangers will be capable of dealing with Jinxer so I do not believe that we need to intervene."

"What if Jinxer destroys them?" Loki asked.

"Then, we'll step in," Diabolico replied calmly. "However, I doubt very much that it will come to that. If I've learned anything about the Power Rangers over the years, it is that they always find a way to overcome the odds against them."

Diabolico then sighed at that moment.

"Even if they end up risking their lives to do so," he added before all three of them turned their attention back to the battle.


End file.
